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.

After reading the article, a Reddit user named Kane gained 64 upvotes with this comment: “Fascinating to read but also kinda disappointed that we’re never going to see it in our lifetime. As a sci-fi fan, I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be born in an age where space travel / planet hopping is as convenient as going on a trans-Atlantic flight.” Join discuss with us below the comment section!
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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.”

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SimonW
SimonW
20 days ago

A big planet I can understand. Huge stars pouring out tons of radiation I can understand.

An orbit one hundred times bigger than Jupiter’s, though…that’s just…goddamn. 48 billion miles out from its stars. That I’m finding difficult to grasp.

It’s amazing that we could even find it that far out. More than ten times as far away as Pluto is from Sol. Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the sun. How long is this planet’s orbital period?

Civilizations could rise and fall in the time it takes to complete a single orbit. Just…wow.

Annie
Annie
20 days ago

That’s way bigger than Uranus.

Vayne
Vayne
20 days ago

When I read this story somewhere else my first knee-jerk reaction was “Why isn’t it a red dwarf then?” but then I googled a little bit and was reminded about how hard it is to grasp scales.

Comparing Jupiters mass to the Sun — Jupiter would be ~0.001 as massive as the sun.

Red dwarfs are estimated to require .075 and .5 Solar masses to reach sustainable/stable state.

Even at 12x the size of Jupiter and even assuming its also 12x as massive, still doesn’t even get close to Star status.

(Note: Not an astronomer/astrophysicist, just some random bloke trying to grasp the numbers/scale here. So some of my assumptions/understanding might be wrong here.)

Paul
Paul
20 days ago

The Universe is coming to collect it’s failed experiment in humanity.

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