Astronomers just found the strangest giant planet ever:
TOI-6894 b.
By Aniket Chakraborty
July 1, 2025
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This Saturn-sized planet orbits a red dwarf barely 20% the size of our Sun.
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TOI-6894 b is 40% the diameter of its star—the highest planet-star ratio ever seen.
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Discovered by NASA's TESS, the planet orbits every 3.37 days and dims its star by 17%.
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At half Saturn’s mass, TOI-6894 b shouldn’t exist under current planet formation models.
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Core accretion theory says such small stars can’t form gas giants—but here’s one anyway.
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Scientists think it may have formed via a rare method called disk instability or direct collapse.
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None of the leading theories can fully explain this planet—it's rewriting the rulebook.
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JWST will soon study the planet’s atmosphere to uncover its metallic fingerprint.
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TOI-6894 b may be the key to unlocking how giant planets truly form in our galaxy.
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