Journey to Young Planetary System around WISPIT 2 Star in Aquila | ESO

Journey to Young Planetary System around WISPIT 2 Star in Aquila | ESO

This video zooms into WISPIT 2, a young star surrounded by a disc of gas and dust where at least two planets are being born in the constellation Aquila. The new planet—WISPIT 2c—is four times closer to the central star and is twice as massive as WISPIT 2b. Both planets are gas giants, like the outer planets in our Solar System.

Distance from Earth: ~430 light years

The video combines images taken with different telescopes at distinct times and wavelengths. The clip begins with a wide view of the night sky in visible light. It then transitions to an infrared image captured with the European Southern Observatory’s Visible and Infrared Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA). The video ends with a closeup taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), showing both planets carving out gaps in the disc around the star. The star itself is not visible in this last image, as its light has been blocked to reveal the faint structures around it. 

Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/N. Risinger/Digitized Sky Survey 2/VHS team/C. Lawlor, R. F. van Capelleveen et al.
Duration: 50 sesconds
Release Date: March 24, 2026

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