An international team of researchers using a Mauna Kea telescope has found what it believes is a hidden planet orbiting a new star in a discovery that helps underpin an existing theory about the formation of stars and planets.

Scientists at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope found the planet by identifying an unexpected variation in the brightness of a forming star within Serpens Main, a stellar nursery within the Serpens constellation, the researchers said Wednesday.

The recurring twinkle of a star known as EC53, occurring every 18 months, suggests the presence of a planet, according to a paper accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.

The discovery comes a year and a half into the three-year mission of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Transient Survey to keep an eye on eight galactic stellar nurseries for variations in the brightness of forming stars.

The study aims to add to the understanding of the formation of stars and planets, including figuring out how stars gain mass over time.

The survey is led by Doug Johnstone of the National Research Council of Canada and Greg Herczeg, a professor at Peking University in China, and is supported by a team of astronomers from Canada, China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

James Clerk Maxwell Telescope astronomer Steve Mairs said the 18-month variation of brightness or twinkle of the star EC53 has been documented by infrared telescopes since the year 2000.

“But they had no idea why,” Mairs said. “Now we’ve confirmed that gas and material falling onto the star is the reason for the brightening.”

The newly formed orbiting planet with its passing gravitational pull is the likely source of the star glowing brighter, he said.

Stars are believed to form out of a collapsing cloud of gas and dust amid a larger cloud called a nebula, while planets come from a disk of dust that forms around a developing star.

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope is the largest single-dish submillimeter telescope in the world. It operates at submillimeter wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, from far-infrared to microwave.

Mairs credited new imaging technology and advances in data reduction techniques for allowing them to use an unconventional approach in using submillimeter wavelengths to better monitor the stars.

For the remainder of the three-year survey, the team is expected to continue to monitor EC53 and search for more stars in their formative stages.

Using additional telescopes, including a powerful submillimeter array in Chile, the study aims to uncover new clues about the formation of stars and planets, including whether planets assemble during or after a star’s formation.

Operated by the East Asian Observatory, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope is a partnership between China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, with support from the astronomy communities in Canada and the United Kingdom.