PSO J318.5−22 is an extrasolar object of planetary mass that does not orbit a parent star, it is an analog to directly imaged young gas giants.

[6] The team leader, Michael Liu of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, stated, "We have never before seen an object free-floating in space that looks like this.

The team found that strong vertical mixing and photospheric clouds can explain the spectrum of PSO J318.5-22.

[16] PSO J318.5-22 was initially suspected to be a member of the Beta Pictoris Moving group, but radial velocity was not available at this time.

[6] Later radial velocity measurement with the help of high-resolution spectroscopy from Gemini North confirmed it as a Beta Pictoris member.

[3] Variability was first detected with the New Technology Telescope, showing a rotation period larger than 5 hours and an amplitude of 7% to 10% in the Js band.

The near-infrared and mid-infrared light curves have a phase offset between 200° and 210°, likely due to a depth-dependent longitudinal atmospheric structure.