A rare sight in space: Artist’s impression of giant gas planet TOI-6894b orbiting its tiny red dwarf star, defying what scientists thought possible about planet formation.
Credit : X- Nirmata
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A planet that shouldn’t exist, but does…If you think space is full of surprises, you’d be absolutely right. But every now and then, the universe manages to leave even the most seasoned astronomers speechless. The latest head-scratcher? The discovery of a giant gas planet, think Saturn, only a bit bigger, cosying up to a star so tiny, most experts didn’t think such a match was possible.
This cosmic odd couple was spotted in a corner of the galaxy that’s more famous for small fry than giants. The star, with the rather forgettable name TOI-6894, is a classic red dwarf: small, dim, and with just a fraction of our Sun’s mass. Most textbooks would tell you it’s the last place you’d look for a planet of this size. And yet, there it is.
How astronomers spotted this giant planet: Science, serendipity, and space telescopes
The story begins with a team of stargazers using NASA’s TESS space telescope—a satellite dedicated to hunting planets beyond our Solar System. They were scanning the skies for planets that, frankly, aren’t supposed to exist. When they noticed a tell-tale dip in TOI-6894’s light, they suspected something interesting was blocking its glow. That ‘something’ turned out to be a gas giant, now called TOI-6894b.
But it wasn’t enough to spot it once. The team called in some of the world’s biggest telescopes—including the Very Large Telescope in Chile—to double-check. It was no fluke: the planet really is there, and it’s absolutely massive compared to its host star.
Why this discovery has astronomers scratching their heads
You might wonder: why is everyone so excited about a distant planet? After all, haven’t astronomers found thousands of them by now? That’s true, but TOI-6894b is special because it goes against nearly everything we thought we knew about how planets form.
The basic theory says giant gas planets need a lot of material—a thick disc of gas and dust swirling around a new star, to build up a solid core, then grab a blanket of gas to become a giant. Small stars like TOI-6894 just aren’t supposed to have enough raw ingredients to pull this off.
As Professor Daniel Bayliss from the University of Warwick put it, “We always thought that little stars like this just couldn’t make big planets. Now we know we were wrong, and we’ve got a lot of work to do to understand why!”
TOI-6894b: The unusual gas giant challenging astronomers
Let’s talk numbers: TOI-6894b is a bit bigger than Saturn, but weighs only half as much, which makes it incredibly puffy for a planet. Even stranger, it zips around its star in just over three days, a blink of an eye compared to our own Solar System’s giants, which take years to make a single orbit.
And there’s another twist: most gas giants discovered so far are “hot Jupiters”—scorchingly close to their stars and boiling hot as a result. But TOI-6894b is, relatively speaking, on the chilly side—just 420 kelvins (about 147°C). That’s pretty cool for a planet sitting so close to its sun.
Why does this matter?
Because if there’s one thing scientists love, it’s a mystery. If a tiny star like TOI-6894 can host a giant gas planet, maybe these odd couples are more common than we ever imagined. That would mean there could be countless “impossible” worlds out there, quietly proving us wrong.
It also means planet-hunting missions—like TESS—might need to rethink where they look next. Maybe the tiniest, most overlooked stars are hiding the biggest secrets.
Now that they’ve found it, astronomers are desperate to get a better look at TOI-6894b. They’re planning to use the James Webb Space Telescope—the newest, most powerful space observatory in the world—to peer into the planet’s atmosphere. Early hints suggest it might be rich in methane, which is pretty unusual for a planet this size and temperature.
Studying its atmosphere could help scientists figure out how it formed—and, just maybe, unlock some secrets about the formation of our own Solar System too.
How the TOI-6894b discovery changes our view of planets
If you’re a fan of science fiction, it’s a reminder that the universe is still full of surprises. For the rest of us, it’s proof that even in 2025, there are still “impossible” discoveries waiting out there in the stars.
As Dr Vincent Van Eylen of University College London puts it, “Every time we think we’ve got it all figured out, the universe shows us we haven’t even scratched the surface.”
So the next time you look up at the night sky, remember that some of those faint, flickering stars could be home to worlds unlike anything we’ve imagined—planets that challenge our theories, stretch our imagination, and keep scientists up at night, puzzling over the latest cosmic riddle.
One thing’s for certain: in the world of astronomy, it’s always wise to expect the unexpected.
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