Scientists discover a ‘zombie planet’ that shouldn’t exist
Usually, planets face catastrophe when their stars reach the end of their lives and engulf them. For example, if our sun dies, it will expand to 100 times its current size and swallow the Earth.
New Delhi: Scientists have claimed to have discovered a new planet that they believe should not exist. This planet, similar to Jupiter, is located 520 light-years away from Earth and miraculously survived the violent death of its star.
Death of a star
Usually, planets face catastrophe when their stars reach the end of their lives and engulf them. For example, if our sun dies, it will expand to 100 times its current size and swallow the Earth. However, a new study suggests that some planets have a chance of survival. Astronomers have found a planet called ‘Halla’, resembling Jupiter, that managed to survive the death of its star ‘Baekdu’.
Astronomers made an intriguing discovery when they discovered the planet and made further observations. It was discovered that Baekdu had previously expanded into a red giant, reaching a size about 1.5 times the distance between itself and Halla. During this phase, the red giant stage engulfed Halla before finally contracting back to its current size.
Halla miraculously survived
Despite the catastrophic event, Halla defied odds and survived, much to the amazement of the astronomers who observed it through a telescope in Hawaii. This gas planet, officially named 8 UMi b, was named Halla after its discovery in 2015 by Korean astronomers. The name Halla represents a sacred place and is the highest mountain in South Korea.
“Planetary engulfment has catastrophic consequences for the planet or the star itself – or both. The fact that Halla managed to stay in close proximity to a giant star that would otherwise have engulfed it highlights the planet as an extraordinary survivor,” The Independent quoted Marc Hon, the study’s lead author as saying.
These findings were published in a new paper – “A nearby giant planet escapes being engulfed by its star,” in the journal Nature Today.
Notably, scientists made Halla’s discovery in 2015 using the “radial velocity method,” a technique that tracks the motion of stars to infer the gravity of orbiting planets. In the following years, researchers determined that the planet had been engulfed by the star and then conducted follow-up observations to gain more insight into this phenomenon.
The observations confirm that Halla really exists and has been orbiting for more than 10 years, but the question is still how the planet actually survived.
Scientists don’t know the reason behind Halla’s survival
However, the scientists don’t know the reason behind Halla’s persistence. One possibility is that the planet started a larger orbit before getting closer to its star, but astronomers think this is unlikely.
One possibility is that Baekdu was made up of two stars that merged during their dying process. This fusion could have prevented Halla from being engulfed as it kept the stars from getting big enough to consume it.
Another possibility is that Halla was created as a result of the collision between the two stars. This collision may have created a cloud of gas that eventually gave birth to Halla. Therefore, Halla may be the result of its star’s demise rather than a survivor of it.