A Galactic Marvel Awaits!

In a jaw-dropping discovery that feels straight out of a 'Star Wars' fantasy, astronomers have identified a rare exoplanet that orbits at a mind-boggling 90-degree angle around a duo of unusual stars! This real-life phenomenon mirrors the iconic twin suns of Tatooine, home to the legendary Luke Skywalker.

Meet the Exoplanet: 2M1510 (AB) b

The newly discovered exoplanet, named 2M1510 (AB) b, orbits a pair of young brown dwarfs—celestial objects larger than Jupiter-sized gas giants but too diminutive to earn the title of stars. Remarkably, this is only the second known pair of eclipsing brown dwarfs, and it's the first time we've identified a planet with a right-angled orbit in relation to its binary star companions!

A Team-Driven Discovery

An international team of researchers spearheaded by the University of Birmingham made this astonishing find using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT). The brown dwarfs exhibit a captivating eclipse effect from our vantage point on Earth, classifying them as part of an "eclipsing binary" system.

History in the Making

This groundbreaking discovery has been published in the prestigious Science Advances journal, marking the first strong evidence of a "polar planet" in orbit around such a unique stellar duo. According to Thomas Baycroft, a Ph.D. student who led the study, this revelation is incredibly exciting as it validates theories about planets on perpendicular orbits around binary stars!

How Was It Discovered?

The team stumbled upon this exoplanet while refining observational data related to the pair of brown dwarfs using the advanced Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) on the VLT, located in Chile. Their observations revealed that the brown dwarfs' orbital dynamics were altered in ways that hinted at the presence of an exoplanet with a peculiar orbital angle.

An Unexpected Delight!

Originally detected in 2018 as part of the Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars (SPECULOOS) project, led by Professor Amaury Triaud and his team, the discovery of 2M1510 (AB) b unfolded serendipitously. Professor Triaud remarked on how astonishing it is that a planet could inhabit such a unique configuration, one that could influence the orbits of its two stellar hosts, creating a dazzling cosmic ballet.

Innovative Techniques to the Rescue!

This groundbreaking work was made possible through pioneering data analysis spearheaded by Dr. Lalitha Sairam (now at the University of Cambridge), who enhanced measurement precision by a staggering factor of 30. Dr. Sairam elaborated on how subtle variations in the velocities of the brown dwarfs could reveal their delicate orbital characteristics, enabling the team to uncover this extraordinary planetary system.

The Universe Never Ceases to Amaze!

With this unprecedented discovery opening new doors to understanding celestial mechanics, astronomers are brimming with anticipation for what other cosmic wonders lie within our universe!