Teenager discovers new planet 1,000 light years away

Tom Wagg. PHOTO from Keele University

Tom Wagg was 15 years old when he accomplished a groundbreaking feat—he was able to discover a new planet beyond our solar system.

As part of his week-long placement at Keele University in the UK in 2013, Wagg found the planet located at the southern constellation of Hydra by looking for “a tiny dip in the light of a distant star” 1,000 light years away.

It took two years to verify his discovery.

Wagg’s planet is one of the 1,000 exoplanets, or planets that orbit a star other than the Sun, that have been discovered by astronomers during the past 20 years. Keele University claims that Wagg is the youngest person who ever discovered one.

“I’m hugely excited to have a found a new planet, and I’m very impressed that we can find them so far away,” the now 17-year-old teen said.

The still-unnamed planet cannot be seen directly through a telescope, has the same size as Jupiter and orbits the star in only two days.

According to Keele University professor Coel Hellier, Wagg’s planet is “one of a class of ‘hot Jupiter’ planets” and that it may not be the only planet orbiting that star.

The newly discovered planet has been catalogued by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) project as WASP-142b. The International Astronomical Union has conducted a contest to name other exoplanets.

Wagg used the data collected by WASP in finding the planet.

The WASP project monitors millions of stars at night to look for the tiny dips (transits) caused by planets passing in front of their host star.

He wants to study physics in college. RC

Artist’s description of Wagg’s planet

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