AssetID: 54678765
Headline: Remarkable 'Star Wars' Planet Found Orbiting Two Stars
Caption: Astronomers have found a 'Star Wars' planet that orbits at an angle of 90 degrees around a rare pair of peculiar stars. This is the first time we have strong evidence for one of these 'polar planets' orbiting a stellar pair. The surprise discovery was made using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT). Several planets orbiting two stars at once, like the fictional Star Wars world Tatooine, have been found before. However, these planets typically occupy orbits that roughly align with the plane in which their host stars orbit each other. There have previously been hints that planets on perpendicular, or polar, orbits around binary stars could exist. However, until now, we lacked clear evidence that these polar planets do exist. The unprecedented exoplanet, named 2M1510 (AB) b, orbits a pair of young brown dwarfs — objects bigger than gas-giant planets but too small to be proper stars. This system is incredibly rare: it is only the second pair of eclipsing brown dwarfs known to date and it contains the first exoplanet ever found on a path at right angles to the orbit of its two host stars.
Keywords: Science & Technology,Star Wars planet,polar planet,binary stars,2M1510 (AB) b,Very Large Telescope (VLT),European Southern Observatory,brown dwarfs,eclipsing binary,exoplanet,Thomas Baycroft,University of Birmingham,Science Advances,Amaury Triaud,orbital configuration,exoplanet discovery,polar orbits,Tatooine,stellar pair,planet-forming discs,astronomical discovery,exoplanet orbit,astronomy,exoplanets,space exploration,telescope,astrophysics,binary star system,brown dwarf,space discovery,polar orbit,science,space research,space technology,solar system,planetary science,space observation
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