Nasa believes the planet, GJ 504b is a magenta colour, based on infrared data from the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii.

The pink planet orbits its star at nearly nine times the distance Jupiter orbits the sun to challenge theoretical ideas of how giant planets form.

GJ 504b is about four times the mass of Jupiter and its star can be seen without a telescope in the constellation Virgo.

Astronomers at Nasa have discovered a pink alien planet orbiting a star like our sun 57 light-years away that they said is the smallest by mass photographed so far.

Scientists believe the planet, GJ 504b, is thought to be a magenta colour, based on infrared data from the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii.

While GJ 504b is the the lowest-mass planet ever detected around a star using direct imaging techniques, but it is still several times the mass of Jupiter and similar in size.

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