The universe forms massive planets differently than previously thought, challenging existing theories with this groundbreaking discovery.

When astronomers first discovered giant planets known as hot Jupiters, which orbit close to their stars, they were puzzled. Such planets could not have formed so near to their stars, but an explanation soon emerged: these worlds originated much farther away and then migrated. However, during this process, hot Jupiters must either destroy or eject other planets in the star system, meaning they should remain solitary. The discovery of three planets, including a hot Jupiter, around the star WASP-132 challenges the theory of planetary system evolution. The study is published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, reports Space.

Astronomers closely examined the WASP-132 star system, where a hot Jupiter-type planet named WASP-132b was known to orbit at a very close distance to a K-type star. It turned out that this planet is not alone, contrary to current models of how such worlds form.

In the WASP-132 star system, located 403 light-years away from us, astronomers also discovered a super-Earth planet, named WASP-132c, that orbits even closer to the star, and a more distant icy giant planet named WASP-132d.

The hot Jupiter, which has a mass slightly less than half that of Jupiter, completes an orbit around its star in 7 Earth days. The super-Earth, with a mass six times that of Earth, does this in 24 Earth hours. Meanwhile, the icy giant planet, which has a mass five times that of Jupiter, has an orbital period of 5 Earth years.

Hot Jupiters often have masses many times greater than that of Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System. These worlds are located very close to their stars. It is believed that such massive planets could not have formed at such close distances to their stars, and thus originated much farther out before migrating inward. Current models of hot Jupiter formation suggest that during their migration, these planets either destroy other worlds in the star system or push them outward, leading them to be solitary.

However, in the WASP-132 star system, there are three planets, with the super-Earth even closer to the star than the hot Jupiter. This new discovery demonstrates that other planets can still form alongside a hot Jupiter.

Scientists believe there must be some other mechanism by which such planets can migrate toward their stars without destroying or ejecting neighboring worlds, allowing them to form and coexist.

How exactly this process occurs remains unknown to astronomers, but they intend to investigate through future observations. They also plan to determine how common such planetary systems are. According to the researchers, this discovery could prompt a reevaluation of our understanding of the evolution of hot Jupiters and similar star systems.