Latest news with #ThomasBaycroft
Daily Record
22-04-2025
- Science
- Daily Record
Scientists discover first 'polar planet' orbiting two stars in ‘surprise' find
The planet orbits two stars at once, like the fictional Star Wars world Tatooine. Astronomers have found a planet that orbits around a rare pair of peculiar stars in what has been dubbed a "surprising" discovery. This discovery is the first strong evidence of a 'polar planet' orbiting a pair of stars. Scientists used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) to make this exciting discovery. Several planets orbiting two stars at once have been discovered in the past years, but none that orbited their stars in this interesting way had been found. Star Wars fans may recognise that phenomenon from the fictional planet Tatooine in the film franchise. And Science Daily explains that these odd planets typically occupy orbits that roughly align with the angle in which their host stars orbit each other. However, this particular 'polar planet' orbits at a 90 degree angle around its stars. Previous theories assumed that these orbits would be stable, and hints of these planets existing had been found, but there was a lack of clear evidence that these polar planets existed until now. Thomas Baycroft, a PhD student at the University of Birmingham, who led the study published in Science Advances, said: "I am particularly excited to be involved in detecting credible evidence that this configuration exists." The exoplanet, named 2M1510 (AB) b, orbits a pair of young brown dwarf stars, which are bigger than gas-giant planets but too small to be considered proper stars. The two brown dwarfs produce eclipses of one another as seen from Earth, in a phenomenon that astronomers call an 'eclipsing binary'. This star system is incredibly rare, and it is only the second pair of eclipsing brown dwarfs known to date. The system also contains the first exoplanet ever found on a path at right angles to the orbit of its two host stars. "A planet orbiting not just a binary, but a binary brown dwarf, as well as being on a polar orbit is rather incredible and exciting," says co-author Amaury Triaud, a professor at the University of Birmingham. The planet was found while the team was refining the orbital and physical parameters of the two brown dwarfs - but it wasn't a discovery they were expecting. Triaud added: "The discovery was serendipitous, in the sense that our observations were not collected to seek such a planet, or orbital configuration. As such, it is a big surprise." Scientists collected observations with the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory, Chile. This pair of brown dwarfs, known as 2M1510, were first detected in 2018 by the research's co-author Triaud. The astronomers noticed that the orbital path of the two stars in 2M1510 were being pushed and pulled in unusual ways, which led to the discovery of this exoplanet with its strange orbital angle. Baycroft explained that it became clear that the only explanation for this push-pull effect was that there was a planet orbiting at a 90 degree angle to the stars. "Overall, I think this shows to us astronomers, but also to the public at large, what is possible in the fascinating Universe we inhabit", says Triaud. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Reuters
18-04-2025
- Science
- Reuters
Luke Skywalker's planet orbited two stars. How about brown dwarfs instead?
WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - In a memorable image from the 1977 film "Star Wars," the young hero Luke Skywalker gazes at two suns setting above the horizon on his desert planet Tatooine. Astronomers since then indeed have discovered worlds, called circumbinary planets, orbiting two stars. But for sheer exoticism, it would be hard to top a newly described circumbinary planet located relatively nearby in our Milky Way galaxy. It orbits not two stars but two brown dwarfs - celestial objects too small to be a star and too big to be a planet. And its orbit is unlike any other such planet on record. Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here. Brown dwarfs could be considered wannabe stars that during their formative stages did not reach the mass necessary to ignite nuclear fusion at their core like a star. But they are more massive than the biggest planets and are modestly luminous. Using the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope, researchers have found evidence of a planet roughly 120 light-years away - probably a gas planet at least four or five times the mass of Earth - orbiting two brown dwarfs, each about 35 times more massive than Jupiter. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). Jupiter is our solar system's largest planet. The two brown dwarfs are gravitationally bound and orbit near to each other - as close as just 4% of the distance between Earth and the sun. The planet, named 2M1510 (AB) b, orbits around this pair. Another brown dwarf is present in this system, but is too far away - about 250 times the distance between Earth and the sun - for its gravitational pull to measurably disturb the other two. Of the approximately 5,800 planets beyond our solar system - called exoplanets - confirmed to date, only 16 are circumbinary. And until now, none of those were found to be orbiting brown dwarfs, rather than regular stars. The nature of this planet's orbit also is unique. Rather than following the plane established for the orbit of the two brown dwarfs, the planet instead orbits almost nearly perpendicular from the plane - called a polar orbit - in a journey lasting at least 100 days. "A satellite on a polar orbit around the Earth is one that would pass over the north and south pole. It would therefore be on an orbit that is inclined at 90 degrees to the rotation axis of the Earth," said Thomas Baycroft, a doctoral student in astronomy at the University of Birmingham in England and lead author of the study published in the journal Science Advances, opens new tab. No planet in our solar system has a polar orbit. The several exoplanets known to follow such a path orbit only a single star. When two stars, or in this case two brown dwarfs, orbit each other, it is called a binary system, like the fictional one in "Star Wars." The view by an observer from this planet, however, would be unlike the one that Luke Skywalker saw. "This would be different from the Tatooine image. Both brown dwarfs would be identical and red. Since they are brown dwarfs they are fainter than the sun in general, though how bright they would appear in the sky also depends on how close the planet is to them," Baycroft said. These binary brown dwarfs each have a mass approximately 4% that of the sun and are only about 0.1% as luminous. "This appears like an exotic configuration for a planetary system. Probably the most important discovery since the first exoplanet has been how diverse planetary systems are. They seem to defy our expectations, which is great - they present a fantastic opportunity to learn," said University of Birmingham astrophysicist and study co-author Amaury Triaud. While scientists previously had hypothesized the existence of exoplanets in a polar orbit around a binary system, this is the first good evidence of that, Triaud said.
The Independent
17-04-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Scientists find Star Wars-like planet with a highly unusual orbit
Scientists may have found a new Tatooine-like planet orbiting two "failed stars" approximately 120 light years from Earth. The planet follows a peculiar, perpendicular path around a pair of brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs, sometimes referred to as failed stars, possess a mass greater than gas giant planets but less than stars. The two brown dwarfs at the centre of this system were initially observed years ago. Scientists noted that the pair eclipse each other from Earth's perspective, resulting in one dwarf being partially obscured. New analysis of the brown dwarfs' movement revealed a shift, a phenomenon less likely to occur if the dwarfs orbited each other in isolation. This research has been published in Science Advances. The discovery adds to a growing list of planets known to orbit binary star systems, reminiscent of the fictional desert planet Tatooine from Star Wars, famous for its double sunsets. While over a dozen such planets have been identified, this new finding offers a unique glimpse into the dynamics of planetary systems around brown dwarfs. The new planet's odd orbit sets it apart. But it has not been directly spied, and scientists say more research is needed to be sure it is out there and figure out its mass and orbit. 'I wouldn't bet my life that the planet exists yet,' said Simon Albrecht, an astrophysicist with Aarhus University who had no role in the new study. Probing these wacky celestial bodies can help us understand how conditions beyond our solar system may yield planets vastly different from our own, said study author Thomas Baycroft with the University of Birmingham. Planets circling twin stars "existed in sci-fi for decades before we knew that they could even really exist in reality', he said.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers find 'Tatooine' planet orbiting two stars
The Brief Astronomers believe they've discovered a "Tatooine"-like planet orbiting two stars in a galaxy far, far away. The planet is orbiting two brown dwarfs, which are also known as failed stars. It's about 120 light years away from our solar system. If you're a "Star Wars" fan, you might be excited to learn scientists may have discovered a planet that's orbiting two stars, much like the fictional planet of "Tatooine." Dig deeper The planet is located about 120 light years away from our solar system, according to astronomers at the University of Birmingham, U.K. A light year is nearly 6 trillion miles, in case you were trying to convert the distance. The exoplanet appears to take an unusual path around two brown dwarf stars, circling at a right angle. Brown dwarfs are sometimes called failed stars because they're lighter than stars but are heavier than gas giant planets. The pair of brown dwarfs were first discovered years ago and scientists noticed that the twins eclipse each other so one is always partly blocked when seen from Earth. In a new analysis, researchers found that the brown dwarfs' motion was changing — a quirk that's less likely to happen if they circled each other on their own. The research was published in the journal Science Advances. The planet was discovered using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (LVT). Yes, there are actually several dozen planets that are orbiting two stars throughout the cosmos, scientists said. But the new planet's odd orbit sets it apart. Though it hasn't been directly spied on, scientists say more research is needed to be sure it's out there and figure out its mass and orbit. What they're saying "I wouldn't bet my life that the planet exists yet," said Simon Albrecht, an astrophysicist with Aarhus University who had no role in the new study. Probing these wacky celestial bodies can help us understand how conditions beyond our solar system may yield planets vastly different from our own, said study author Thomas Baycroft with the University of Birmingham. Planets circling twin stars "existed in sci-fi for decades before we knew that they could even really exist in reality," he said. The Source Information for this article was gathered from The Associated Press and a news release shared by the European Southern Observatory.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists discover bizarre double-star system with exoplanet on a sideways orbit (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Scientists have perhaps discovered the weirdest planetary system ever seen. Not only does this system feature the first-ever "polar planet" to be discovered, meaning the world exists on a sideways orbit, but that planet also circles around two stars. But that's not all — those parent stellar bodies are also brown dwarfs, better known as "failed stars." Since astronomers started discovering extrasolar planets, or "exoplanets," in the mid-1990s, worlds orbiting other stars have demonstrated that, compared to our somewhat mundane solar system, the universe is a pretty wild place. Exoplanet hunters have found strange worlds unlike anything we see in the solar system, including worlds so light they can be compared to marshmallows, worlds so hot they rain liquid metal or glass, and now, a world that weirdly orbits its stars at a 90-degree angle. However, while we've discovered plenty of planets orbiting binary stars before, evocative of the two-star planet Tatooine in the Star Wars franchise, astronomers have never seen an exoplanet rolling around a binary pairing at 90 degrees to the orbital plane of those stars — until now, that is. The exoplanet 2M1510 (AB) b is located around 120 light-years away in the constellation of Libra. Scientists had previously seen hints that planets could exist in polar orbits around binary stars, for instance finding planet-forming protoplanetary disks around twin stars. However, this is the first solid evidence of such a fully formed system. "I am particularly excited to be involved in detecting credible evidence that this configuration exists," team leader Thomas Baycroft of the University of Birmingham said in a statement. As mentioned, however, this system gets even stranger because the parent bodies of exoplanet 2M1510 (AB) b — 2M1510 AB and 2M1510 C — are brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are stellar bodies that get their unfortunate nickname of "failed stars" because, though they are born from collapsing clouds of gas and dust like standard stars, they fail to gather enough matter to achieve the mass needed to trigger the fusion of hydrogen to helium in their cores, the process that defines what a star is. Furthermore, the chance of stellar bodies having a binary partner increases with mass, making a double-brown-dwarf star system pretty surprising. Around 75% of stars with masses around 10 times that of the sun are in binaries, and around 50% of sun-like stars have a partner. With masses between 0.075 and 0.013 times that of the sun (or 75 to 13 times that of Jupiter), brown dwarfs in binaries are very rare. Further adding to the strangeness of this system (how much weirder can it get?), this is only the second pair of eclipsing brown dwarfs ever discovered. This means one of the brown dwarfs eclipses the other, as seen from our vantage point on Earth. "A planet orbiting not just a binary, but a binary brown dwarf, as well as being on a polar orbit, is rather incredible and exciting," team member Amaury Triaud of the University of Birmingham said in the statement. Triaud has a history with these failed stars, being part of the team that discovered them in 2018 using the Search for Habitable Planets Eclipsing Ultra-cool Stars (SPECULOOS) at Paranal Observatory in Chile. The current team discovered the weird polar planet while attempting to better understand the orbits of the two brown dwarfs in this system using the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) instrument attached to the Very Large Telescope (VLT), also located at the Paranal Observatory. This observation program revealed that the failed stars are being "pushed and pulled" by the gravitational influence of an unseen planet. The strange dynamics of this action led the researchers to conclude that this world is a polar planet with a 90-degree orbit. "We reviewed all possible scenarios, and the only one consistent with the data is if a planet is on a polar orbit about this binary," Baycroft said. Related Stories: — How the Rubin observatory could detect thousands of 'failed stars' — Hubble Space Telescope discovers 'failed stars' are bad at relationships too — Earth-size planet discovered around cool red dwarf star shares its name with a biscuit "The discovery was serendipitous, in the sense that our observations were not collected to seek such a planet, or orbital configuration. As such, it is a big surprise," Triaud concluded. "Overall, I think this shows to us astronomers, but also to the public at large, what is possible in the fascinating universe we inhabit." The team's research was published on Wednesday (April 16) in the journal Science Advances.
