A tiny red dwarf star, TOI-6894, defies expectations by hosting a giant exoplanet, TOI-6894b, which is slightly larger than Saturn but only half its mass.

Red dwarfs, with just 20% of the Sun’s mass, rarely have enough material to form such large planets, making this discovery extremely rare.

The planet orbits its star every 3.37 days and, unlike typical hot gas giants, has a relatively cool atmosphere around 147°C, possibly rich in methane and ammonia.

The planet’s formation challenges existing theories—either core accretion, which seems unlikely given the star’s low mass, or disk instability, which remains debated.

Upcoming observations by the James Webb Space Telescope aim to study the planet’s atmosphere and shed light on its mysterious origins, Space.com has reported.

Despite their rarity, red dwarfs are so numerous that billions could host giant planets, making this finding key to understanding planet formation extremes.

Written by B.C. Begley