"About 620 light years away in the constellation Chamaeleon, a strange planet is devouring everything around it at a furious pace. Cha 1107-7626, a "rogue" planet because it doesn't orbit a star, has suddenly increased its appetite in recent months and is now gobbling every bit of gas, dust and rocks near it at an astonishing rate of six billion tons per second, according to a new study by European scientists published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters."
"The planet is about five to 10 times Jupiter's mass and has been growing for aeons, according to observations taken by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in the Atacama Desert of Chile. But in August, scientists noticed that its growth had spiked to about eight times what it had been earlier in the year, making its dramatic growth spurt the fastest observed in any planet, rogue or not, according to the scientists."
Cha 1107-7626 lies about 620 light years away in the constellation Chamaeleon. The object is a rogue planet that does not orbit a star. Its mass is estimated at five to ten times Jupiter's mass. The planet has been growing by accreting surrounding gas, dust, and rocks for aeons. Very Large Telescope observations show a recent spike in accretion, rising to about six billion tons per second in August, roughly eight times earlier rates. That accretion episode is the strongest ever recorded for a planetary-mass object. The planet displays a strong magnetic field and growth patterns resembling those of young stars, narrowing distinctions between star and planet formation.
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