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'Alien World' Found in Giant Star System Challenges Our Thinking on Planet Formation - ScienceAlert

'Alien World' Found in Giant Star System Challenges Our Thinking on Planet Formation - ScienceAlert

'Alien World' Found in Giant Star System Challenges Our Thinking on Planet Formation - ScienceAlert
Dec 08, 2021 52 secs

The exoplanet in question is called b Centauri b, and it's orbiting not one, but two stars – a binary system called b Centauri, located 325 light-years away.

This star system is the most massive binary for which an exoplanet has been identified.

Until now, astronomers didn't think a star as hot and massive as b Centauri could even host an exoplanet.

Above: Direct image of exoplanet b Centauri b, seen at the bottom right, in orbit around binary star b Centauri in the top left.

"Finding a planet around b Centauri was very exciting since it completely changes the picture about massive stars as planet hosts," says astronomer Markus Janson of Stockholm University in Sweden.

The stars are orbiting each other so closely that, until recently, they were thought to be a single star.

Young stars and massive stars are both quite hot; the main star in b Centauri is very hot indeed.

Because these stars blast out such intense X-ray and ultraviolet radiation, it's thought that exoplanets might have a hard time forming in their proximity.

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