Astronomers have never seen anything like this before: a planet orbiting perpendicularly around two stars

Astronomers have discovered one of the most unusual planets in our Milky Way galaxy, orbiting at a 90° angle to the plane of the orbits of a pair of parent stars — brown dwarfs.

Using the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory in Chile, astronomers have discovered potential exoplanet 2M1510 (AB) b, which orbits almost perpendicular to the planes of two brown dwarfs in the 2M1510 system.

The unusual object was discovered not due to the fact that it orbits the parent star, potential planet for a short time, but by means of subtle gravitational fluctuations. The gravitational attraction between the planet and the stars creates subtle shifts in the spectrum of light from the star.

Observing an unusual brown dwarf star pair at a distance of 120 light-years from Earth, astronomers noticed subtle shifts in their orbits, which could only be explained by the presence of a planet orbiting them.

Currently, there is no definitive confirmation that 2M1510 (AB) b — is a planet. But if it turns out to be true, it could be the first a polar-orbiting circumbinary planet orbiting two parent stars at a 90°. AngleIt has been speculated that these so-called polar planets around two stars may exist, but now astronomers have probably received clear evidence of this.

Astronomers also point out that the pair of brown dwarfs 2M1510 AB and 2M1510 C, around which the unusual planet orbits, is a very rare phenomenon in the solar system. Brown dwarfs are called loser stars because in the process of forming from clouds of gas and dust, under the influence of gravity, they do not gain the necessary mass to start thermonuclear reactions to turn into ordinary stars.

In addition, the scientists note that it is only for the second time in the history of observations, that a pair of brown dwarfs has been seen, in which the our galaxy. The unusual object between them, which is potentially could be a planet with such an unusual motion, challenges scientists’ ideas about the movement of planets.

Another planet in the solar system — dwarf object with a strange orbit discovered

The results of the study are published in the journal Science Advances