A new explanet has been discovered by scientists. Similar to planet jupiterit is 520 light years from Earth and orbits a giant star larger than the Sun, called Baekdu, located in the constellation of Ursa Minor or “Little Bear”.
It may be an unlikely survivor after its host star has a “fit of rage”. The gaseous planet is known as 8 UMi b and was named Halla because Korean astronomers paid homage to a sacred site, in South Korea, which is the highest mountain in the country.
The discovery is considered a surprise for astronomers who believed that this type of planet would not be able to survive because of the peculiar characteristics and tendency to explode.
star is burning
The Baekdu observations were made using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, the US space agency, which studies nearby stars.
The team’s observations revealed that the star is burning for the supply of helium in its core, as it appears to have exhausted its hydrogen.
The revelation suggests to astronomers that the planet has expanded into a red giant star.
“Hot Jupiter”
Halla orbits Baekdu at a distance approximately half that between the Earth and the Sun at 68,815,020 kilometers.
Halla is considered a “hot Jupiter”. This is a classification for exoplanets similar in size to Jupiter that have higher temperatures due to the close proximity they orbit to their host stars.
Astronomers believe that Halla somehow survived after its star underwent a violent transition that should have destroyed nearby planets.
Analysis of the new exoplanet
Dan Huber, future member of the Australian Research Council at the University of Sydney and associate professor. at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which analyzes the phenomenon around the new planet, everything is a surprise.
“When we realized that Halla had managed to survive in the immediate vicinity of its giant star, it was a complete surprise,” he said.
In Halla’s case, initial observations revealed that the planet’s nearly circular orbit, which takes 93 Earth days to complete, has remained stable for more than a decade.
Astronomers continue investigations into planets forming around so-called double star systems — and the fate of those planets as well.
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2023-07-01 02:03:00
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