Astronomers have discovered a strange ‘rogue’ planet that is consuming matter at an unprecedented rate. The planet, dubbed Cha 1107-7626, is located some 620 light-years away in the constellation Chamaeleon. Rogue planets are unique celestial bodies that don't orbit a star like Earth and other planets in our solar system. Instead, they drift freely through the universe.

Scientists estimate there could be trillions of these rogue planets in our galaxy alone. The discovery of Cha 1107-7626's unprecedented growth spurt has left scientists baffled. The planet has a mass five to 10 times bigger than Jupiter and is still in its infancy, being just one or two million years old.

It grows by sucking in matter from a surrounding disk, a process called accretion.

In August, Cha 1107-7626 started devouring matter from its disk at a record-breaking six billion tons per second, eight times faster than a few months earlier.

By comparing light emitted before and during this binge-eating session, scientists found that magnetic activity was driving matter toward the object, a phenomenon previously only observed in stars.

The chemistry in the disk surrounding Cha 1107-7626 also changed during its accretion episode.

Water vapour was detected in the disk during this time, but not beforehand.

The discovery suggests some objects comparable to giant planets form like stars, from contracting clouds of gas and dust accompanied by disks of their own, and undergo growth episodes just like newborn stars.

Despite its strange behaviour, Cha 1107-7626 is expected to have similar characteristics to huge planets due to its size.

However, unlike stars, it is not massive enough to ever have fusion reactions in the core.

This means that like other planets, it will cool inevitably as it gets older.

The finding invites us to wonder what worlds beyond our own could be like during their nascent stages.