Tom Wagg, an intern at England’s Keele University observatory was only 15-years-old when he discovered a new planet outside of Earth’s solar system.
It was a normal day at the office for Wagg when he an image in the WASP computer program caught his eye. CNN reports that Wagg spotted something blocking a tiny portion of light coming from a star he was observing. He concluded it was a planet and reported his findings to his supervisor. The university had no clue that this planet existed and has gathered data on it for two years in order to verify that it is in fact a planet.
Wagg, now seventeen can officially say that he his guess was right. Both the size and mass measurements fits the requirements that allow the object to be identified as a planet.
“I’m hugely excited to have found a new planet, and I’m very impressed that we can find them so far away,” Wagg said.
The planet that he discovered is 1,000 light years away and is said to be the size of Jupiter. Its orbit length around the star takes only two days, which makes the planet easier to find.
TIME says that the planet has been creatively named WASP-142b because it is the 142nd planet found by their WASP computer program, but Wagg is open to other suggestions.