A NEW PLANET has been discovered which is around the same size as Jupiter, it has been revealed.

Named after the space mission that found it, CoRoT-Exo-4b takes 9.2 days to orbit its host star.

Its existence was announced at an astronomy conference at St Andrews University yesterday.

The planet was recorded by the European team behind the CoRoT space mission.

The team was surprised to find the star is rotating at the same pace as the planet’s orbit, having presumed it had too low mass and was too distant to have had much effect on its rotation.

Dr Suzanne Aigrain, of Exeter University, said, “We do not know if CoRoT-Exo-4b and its star have always been rotating in synch since their formation, about one billion years ago, or if the star became synchronised later.

“CoRoT will no doubt find many more transiting planets and, by systematically measuring their host stars’ rotation periods, we will gain valuable insight into how stars interact with their planets.”

Dr Martin Dominik said that in less than 15 years the number of known planets orbiting stars other than our sun has risen from none to over 300.

Some 350 astronomers from around the world have gathered for the conference, which concludes today.