A massive planet, 10 times the size of Jupiter, discovered orbiting a pair of giant stars

Massive Planet Found Orbiting Hot Stars, Challenging Previous Beliefs About Planet Formation in Harsh Environments

TL;DR

Astronomers have discovered a massive planet, b Centauri (AB)b, orbiting a binary star system that was once considered too extreme for planet formation. The planet, 10 times larger than Jupiter, challenges existing theories as it orbits a pair of B-type stars, known for their intense radiation. Located in the Centaurus constellation, the planet’s wide orbit, 100 times farther from its stars than Jupiter from the Sun, may be the key to its survival. This finding opens new possibilities for the study of planet formation in high-mass stellar systems.

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Scientists have identified a massive planet orbiting a pair of extremely hot stars, a setting previously believed to be too hostile for planets to develop in.

A study published in Nature detailed the discovery of the planet, named “b Centauri (AB)b” or “b Centauri b,” challenging a widely accepted theory among astronomers.

“Up until now, no planets had been observed around a star more than three times the size of the Sun,” stated the European Southern Observatory, which captured an image of the planet using its Very Large Telescope in Chile’s desert.

Markus Janson, the lead researcher and a professor of astronomy at Stockholm University, said the discovery “completely alters our view of massive stars as hosts for planets.”

The “B-type” binary star system at the heart of this solar system, located in the Centaurus constellation, is incredibly massive and hot. It emits a large amount of high-energy ultraviolet and X-ray radiation, which, according to the European Southern Observatory, should disrupt the surrounding gas and hinder planet formation.

“B-type stars are typically seen as destructive and dangerous environments, so it was thought that forming large planets around them would be incredibly difficult,” Janson explained in a press release.

The discovery, initially reported in July, was officially published in Nature on Wednesday. The researchers noted, “These findings indicate that planets can exist in much more massive stellar systems than previously expected based on earlier data.”

The newly found b Centauri (AB)b is an exoplanet, meaning it orbits a star outside our solar system. It “is 10 times more massive than Jupiter, making it one of the largest planets ever discovered,” according to the observatory.

Co-author Gayathri Viswanath, a Ph.D. candidate at Stockholm University, described the planet as “an alien world in a completely different environment from what we know here on Earth and in our Solar System.”

“It’s a harsh setting, dominated by extreme radiation, where everything is on an enormous scale: bigger stars, a bigger planet, and larger distances,” Viswanath added.

The observatory noted that the planet’s orbit is “one of the widest ever found,” being 100 times farther from its stars than the distance between Jupiter and the Sun. “This significant distance from the central star pair could be key to the planet’s survival,” they explained.

While the planet was recently identified, it had appeared in previous telescope images but was not recognized, the researchers revealed.

Janson, in an email, mentioned that this discovery has motivated him and his team to expand their BEAST survey, which focuses on studying 85 similar stars.

“We plan to seek more telescope time to continue the survey, and we are also going through telescope archives to see if any high-mass stars have been observed in the past,” Janson wrote.

He added, “I expect there will be increased interest in searching for planets around high-mass stars, not only to detect them but also to study their composition and gain a better understanding of how they formed.”