Rosa Rubicondior: Refuting Creationism - What's Happening In the Real Universe?

Six billion tonnes a second: Rogue planet found growing at record rate | ESO

Artist’s impression of Cha 1107-7626.

Location in the sky of the rogue planet Cha 1107-7626 (infrared)

With their childishly naïve grasp of the structure of the universe, the Bible’s authors could no more have imagined the true nature of the cosmos than a Bronze Age farmer could have designed a particle accelerator. They pictured a flat Earth covered by a solid dome, beneath which the sun and stars moved like lanterns suspended on invisible tracks. Believing rain came from “waters above” this dome, they assumed the sky itself must be a vast ocean — blue, like the sea — and that some celestial sluice gates opened when it rained.

Such primitive guesswork, born of ignorance and untested imagination, could never have encompassed even a single heliocentric solar system, let alone the staggering reality of trillions of such systems scattered across billions of galaxies.

And yet, while creationists still cling to those same Iron Age misunderstandings as “divinely inspired truth,” modern science continues to reveal a universe so vast and dynamic that it mocks the limits of ancient superstition. One striking example is the discovery of a planet that has slipped the gravitational leash of its parent star and now drifts aimlessly through the cosmos—sweeping up tons of cosmic dust every second and steadily growing in mass.
That’s not a myth or a metaphor—it’s observable reality, reported in a recent paper in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Or rather, it was reality 620 years ago, in 1404, since that’s how long its light has taken to reach the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT).

Since then, the entirety of American post-Columban history has occurred, and more, since it was to be a further 88 years until Columbus discovered the Americas. In 1404 the 'Hundred Years War was in full swing, Henry IV was king of England and Charlea VI was king of France. Since then, the rogue planet has been consuming an increasing mass of cosmic dust the rate having increased 8-fold on the previous few months to some 6 billion tonnes per second,

When last observed the planet had a mass of 5-10 times that of Jupiter. The paper was authored by a team led by Victor Almendros-Abad of the Astronomical Observatory of Palermo, National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Italy.

Basic identity & discovery.

Designation / location:The object is Cha J11070768-7626326 (shortened “Cha 1107-7626”) in the Chamaeleon I star-forming region, some ~620 light-years (≈ 190 pc) from Earth. [1]
Classification:It is a free-floating (rogue) planetary-mass object or very low-mass “sub-brown dwarf” — in other words, a planet-mass body not gravitationally bound to a star. [1]
Discovery:First identified in 2008 via Spitzer and ground-based telescopes (Magellan) by Kevin Luhman and collaborators. [1]
Spectral / photometric properties:

Spectral type: around L0 ± 1 [1]
Apparent magnitudes: J ≈ 17.61, H ≈ 16.80, K_s ≈ 15.91 [1]
Effective temperature: ~1,900 ± 100 K [1]
Bolometric luminosity: ~0.00033 (in solar units) [1]

Mass, age, and physical nature

Mass estimate:Current estimates place Cha 1107-7626’s mass between 5 and 10 Jupiter masses (M_J). [2]
Age:It belongs to a ~2 Myr (million-year) old star-forming region, so its age is likely on the order of a few Myr. [3]
Because of its low mass and free-floating status, there is debate whether such objects form like planets (in a disk and then get ejected) or form more like stars (by direct collapse of a small gas/dust clump). The behavior of Cha 1107-7626 provides evidence that at least some free-floating planetary-mass objects share formation mechanisms with stars. [4]

Disk, accretion, and recent outburst

What makes Cha 1107-7626 especially interesting is the presence of a circumplanetary (or circum-object) disk and observed episodic accretion behavior, which is very rare (if not unique) for objects of planetary mass.

Disk & spectroscopic signatures

Infrared excess beyond ~4 µm indicates the presence of a dusty disk around the object. [3]
In the disk, emission lines associated with hydrocarbons (e.g., methane CH₄, ethylene C₂H₄) have been unambiguously detected. That makes Cha 1107-7626 the lowest-mass object known to host those disk hydrocarbon signatures. [3]
The disk’s mid-infrared spectrum shows similarities to disks around low-mass stars in the same region, suggesting that disk chemistry and structure may scale across a wide range of central-object masses. [3]

Accretion burst (2025)

In 2025, Cha 1107-7626 was observed undergoing a dramatic accretion burst (a “growth spurt”) — something more commonly associated with young stars (e.g. EXor or FUor outbursts) than planetary-mass objects.

Key points from the observational campaign:

Instruments used: XSHOOTER on ESO’s VLT, and NIRSpec & MIRI on the James Webb Space Telescope. [5]
The object transitioned from a “quiescent” phase (April–May 2025) to an enhanced accretion phase during June–August 2025. [5]
The accretion rate increased by a factor of ~6–8 over its baseline. It reached an estimated peak corresponding to ~10⁻⁷ Jupiter masses per year in terms of inflow. [5]
During the burst, spectral signatures typical of magnetospheric accretion (seen in young stars) appeared: e.g. Hα line developing a double peak, redshifted absorption, etc. [5]
The optical continuum brightened by a factor of 3–6; the mid-infrared continuum increased by ~10–20%. [5]
Chemistry changes: water vapor emission (6.5–7 µm) was detected during the burst (but absent in quiescence), and changes in hydrocarbon emission lines in the disk were observed. [5]
The burst was ongoing at the end of the observing window, lasting at least two months. [5]
Interestingly, archival observations show that a similar high-accretion state may have occurred in 2016, indicating that such bursts might be recurring. [5]

Because of this behavior, the authors interpret the event as akin to an EXor-type accretion burst, making Cha 1107-7626 the first substellar (planetary-mass) object with clear evidence for that kind of repeated burst. [5]

Scientific significance & open questions

Cha 1107-7626 is significant for several reasons:

Blurring the star/planet boundary
The fact that a planet-mass object is showing disk-driven episodic accretion and stellar-like magnetic accretion signatures suggests that the processes we associate with young stars can operate even at much lower masses. This challenges strict dichotomies between stars and planets. [4]
Formation pathways for rogue planets
The observations favor the idea that at least some free-floating planetary-mass objects form in situ by direct collapse (like stars) rather than being ejected from a host stellar system. The presence of an intact disk and recurring accretion bursts make it hard to reconcile with a violently ejected history (which would likely disrupt the disk). [4]
Extremes of accretion physics
The accretion rate in this burst (~10⁻⁷ M_J/yr equivalent, or an enormous mass influx) is the highest ever measured for a planetary-mass object. [5] It provides a novel laboratory for studying accretion under extreme conditions, possibly shedding light on how magnetic fields, disk instabilities, and material flow operate across a wide mass range.
Recurring behavior & its triggers
If the bursts are indeed recurring (evidence from 2016 + 2025), a question arises: what mechanism triggers such bursts in a low-mass environment? Are they driven by disk instabilities, magnetic-star–disk interactions, or external perturbations?
Ultimate fate and growth limits
Given its current mass (5–10 M_J) and observed accretion, one could ask: could Cha 1107-7626 grow (in time) to stellar mass? Is there enough material around it, or will the accretion eventually taper off? Realistically, the available disk will run out long before it'd approach that threshold, but the rate and duration of accretion are critical unknowns.

For those who prefer a more accessible summary, the discovery is also described in a news release by the European Southern Observatory.

Six billion tonnes a second: Rogue planet found growing at record rate
Astronomers have identified an enormous ‘growth spurt’ in a so-called rogue planet. Unlike the planets in our Solar System, these objects do not orbit stars, free-floating on their own instead. The new observations, made with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), reveal that this free-floating planet is eating up gas and dust from its surroundings at a rate of six billion tonnes a second. This is the strongest growth rate ever recorded for a rogue planet, or a planet of any kind, providing valuable insights into how they form and grow.

People may think of planets as quiet and stable worlds, but with this discovery we see that planetary-mass objects freely floating in space can be exciting places.

Víctor Almendros-Abad, led author
Astronomical Observatory of Palermo
National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF)
Italy.

The newly studied object, which has a mass five to 10 times the mass of Jupiter, is located about 620 light-years away in the constellation Chamaeleon. Officially named Cha 1107-7626, this rogue planet is still forming and is fed by a surrounding disc of gas and dust. This material constantly falls onto the free-floating planet, a process known as accretion. However, the team led by Almendros-Abad has now found that the rate at which the young planet is accreting is not steady.

By August 2025, the planet was accreting about eight times faster than just a few months before, at a rate of six billion tonnes per second!
This is the strongest accretion episode ever recorded for a planetary-mass object.

Víctor Almendros-Abad.

The discovery, published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, was made with the X-shooter spectrograph on ESO’s VLT, located in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The team also used data from the James Webb Space Telescope, operated by the US, European and Canadian space agencies, and archival data from the SINFONI spectrograph on ESO's VLT.
The origin of rogue planets remains an open question: are they the lowest-mass objects formed like stars, or giant planets ejected from their birth systems?

Aleks Scholz, co-author
University of St Andrews
Stirling, UK.

The findings indicate that at least some rogue planets may share a similar formation path to stars since similar bursts of accretion have been spotted in young stars before.
This discovery blurs the line between stars and planets and gives us a sneak peek into the earliest formation periods of rogue planets.

Belinda Damian, co-author
University of St Andrews
Stirling, UK

By comparing the light emitted before and during the burst, astronomers gathered clues about the nature of the accretion process. Remarkably, magnetic activity appears to have played a role in driving the dramatic infall of mass, something that has only been observed in stars before. This suggests that even low-mass objects can possess strong magnetic fields capable of powering such accretion events. The team also found that the chemistry of the disc around the planet changed during the accretion episode, with water vapour being detected during it but not before. This phenomenon had been spotted in stars but never in a planet of any kind.

Free-floating planets are difficult to detect, as they are very faint, but ESO’s upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), operating under the world's darkest skies for astronomy, could change that. Its powerful instruments and giant main mirror will enable astronomers to uncover and study more of these lonely planets, helping them to better understand how star-like they are.

The idea that a planetary object can behave like a star is awe-inspiring and invites us to wonder what worlds beyond our own could be like during their nascent stages.

Amelia Bayo, co-author.
European Southern Observatory
München, Germany.

More information
The team is composed of V. Almendros-Abad (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Italy), Aleks Scholz (School of Physics & Astronomy, University of St Andrews, United Kingdom [St Andrews]), Belinda Damian (St Andrews), Ray Jayawardhana (Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, USA [JHU]), Amelia Bayo (European Southern Observatory, Germany), Laura Flagg (JHU), Koraljka Mužić (Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal), Antonella Natta (School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and University College Dublin, Ireland) Paola Pinilla (Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, UK) and Leonardo Testi (Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, Italy).

Publication:
Victor Almendros-Abad et al 2025
Discovery of an Accretion Burst in a Free-floating Planetary-mass Object
ApJL 992 L2 DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae09a8

Discovery of an Accretion Burst in a Free-floating Planetary-mass Object
Victor Almendros-Abad, Aleks Scholz, Belinda Damian, Ray Jayawardhana, Amelia Bayo, Laura Flagg, Koraljka Mužić, Antonella Natta, Paola Pinilla, and Leonardo Testi
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 992, Number 1

Abstract
We report the discovery of a long-lasting burst of disk accretion in Cha J11070768-7626326 (Cha 1107-7626), a young, isolated, 5–10 M_Jupiter object. In spectra taken with XSHOOTER at ESO’s Very Large Telescope as well as NIRSpec and MIRI on the James Webb Space Telescope, the object transitions from quiescence in 2025 April–May to a strongly enhanced accretion phase in 2025 June–August. The line flux changes correspond to a 6–8-fold increase in the mass accretion rate, reaching 10⁻⁷ M_Jupiteryr⁻¹, the highest measured in a planetary-mass object. During the burst, the Hα line develops a double-peaked profile with redshifted absorption, as observed in stars and brown dwarfs undergoing magnetospheric accretion. The optical continuum increases by a factor of 3–6; the object is ∼1.5–2 mag brighter in the R band during the burst. Mid-infrared continuum fluxes rise by 10%–20%, with clear changes in the hydrocarbon emission lines from the disk. We detect water vapour emission at 6.5–7 μm, which were absent in quiescence. By the end of our observing campaign, the burst was still ongoing, implying a duration of at least 2 months. A 2016 spectrum also shows high accretion levels, suggesting that this object may undergo recurring bursts. The observed event is inconsistent with typical variability in accreting young stars and instead matches the duration, amplitude, and line spectrum of an EXor-type burst, making Cha1107-7626 the first substellar object with evidence of a potentially recurring EXor burst.

1. Introduction
Deep surveys in star-forming regions have identified young free-floating objects with masses below the deuterium burning limit at 13 Jupiter masses, or 0.013 M_⊙, starting with the pioneering studies by M. R. Zapatero Osorio et al. (2000) and P. W. Lucas & P. F. Roche (2000.1). In terms of their masses, these objects are comparable to giant planets. They share some features with planets, including atmospheric properties (M. Bonnefoy et al. 2014). In contrast to planets, they are found in isolation, not in orbit around a star, and harbor accreting disks at young ages (K. L. Luhman et al. 2005; R. Jayawardhana & V. D. Ivanov 2006). The existence of free-floating planetary-mass objects (FFPMOs) raises many fundamental questions. Are these the lowest-mass objects formed like stars? What is the low-mass limit for star formation? Or are these giant planets that have been ejected from their planetary systems? How does the ejection occur exactly? (A. Scholz et al. 2022; N. Miret-Roig 2023; A. B. Langeveld et al. 2024).

Observationally, the most obvious path to constraining the nature of FFPMOs is a detailed characterization of the objects and their environment. Here, the study of disks and accretion is particularly relevant. The presence of a disk and ongoing accretion is typically interpreted as a sign that the object shares a formation and early evolutionary path with stars. Disks have been found through infrared excess for objects with 5–10 Jupiter masses (L. Testi et al. 2002; K. L. Luhman et al. 2008). The disk fractions do not seem to decline in the planetary-mass domain (H. H. Seo & A. Scholz 2025). In some cases, evidence for gas accretion has been seen (G. Viswanath et al. 2024.1).

The object Cha1170-7626 is a key target in this regard—with an estimated mass of only 5–10 Jupiter masses, it is one of the lowest-mass FFPMOs with clear evidence for disk and accretion (K. L. Luhman et al. 2008). Recent observations with Very Large Telescope (VLT) and JWST have shown (a) clear evidence for infrared excess from 4 to 12 μm, (b) a silicate emission feature at 10 μm similar to those seen in stars and brown dwarfs, (c) hydrocarbon emission lines, indicating a carbon-rich disk chemistry, and (d) multiple accretion-induced emission lines (B. Damian et al. 2025.1; L. Flagg et al. 2025.2). These characteristics make Cha1107-7626 the poster child for disk accretion in the planetary-mass domain.

Using observations from VLT/XSHOOTER and instruments on board JWST, we recently discovered an accretion burst in Cha1107-7626, which began in 2025 June and was still ongoing by the end of 2025 August. This is the first time an accretion burst has been seen in an object with such a low mass. In Section 2, we present the observations and the resulting spectra. In Section 3, we analyze the changes in the accretion lines during the burst, derive the corresponding changes in mass accretion rate, and discuss the change in line profiles. In Section 4, we examine any changes in the broad spectral energy distribution in the optical, near- and mid-infrared. Our results are summarized in Section 5.

Victor Almendros-Abad et al 2025
Discovery of an Accretion Burst in a Free-floating Planetary-mass Object
ApJL 992 L2 DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae09a8

Copyright: © 2025 The authors.
Published by the American Astronomical Society. Open access.
Reprinted under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0)

This remarkable discovery exposes, yet again, how pitifully small the creationist conception of the universe truly is. While science is tracing the behaviour of a rogue planet hundreds of light-years away—watching it greedily consume cosmic dust and grow before our eyes—creationists are still trying to defend a flat-Earth cosmology with a firmament and celestial plumbing. The authors of Genesis, armed with nothing more than naked-eye observations and tribal mythology, could not have imagined a single planet orbiting a distant star, let alone one wandering freely through interstellar space.

Cha 1107-7626, as it is known, is no mythical wanderer cast adrift by divine whim, but a very real object around ten times the mass of Jupiter, lying in the Chamaeleon I star-forming region some 620 light-years from Earth. Once thought to be a failed star, it is now seen to host a dusty disk and to undergo powerful accretion bursts—literally growing by swallowing interstellar material. In May 2025 it was caught in such an outburst, drawing in matter at an astonishing rate, a process that may recur as its gravity and magnetic fields wrestle for control of the inflowing gas.

So while creationists cling to ancient myths written by people who thought rain fell through cracks in a solid sky, astronomers are calmly measuring the feeding habits of a planet drifting alone in the darkness between the stars. The contrast could not be more telling: superstition offers comforting stories for the fearful; science delivers awe inspired by reality.

Advertisement

What Makes You So Special? From The Big Bang To You

How did you come to be here, now? This books takes you from the Big Bang to the evolution of modern humans and the history of human cultures, showing that science is an adventure of discovery and a source of limitless wonder, giving us richer and more rewarding appreciation of the phenomenal privilege of merely being alive and able to begin to understand it all.

Ten Reasons To Lose Faith: And Why You Are Better Off Without It

This book explains why faith is a fallacy and serves no useful purpose other than providing an excuse for pretending to know things that are unknown. It also explains how losing faith liberates former sufferers from fear, delusion and the control of others, freeing them to see the world in a different light, to recognise the injustices that religions cause and to accept people for who they are, not which group they happened to be born in. A society based on atheist, Humanist principles would be a less divided, more inclusive, more peaceful society and one more appreciative of the one opportunity that life gives us to enjoy and wonder at the world we live in.

Amazon