Experts recently found a new exoplanet that resides outside our solar system. The exoplanet's discovery is a big deal in today's standards of astronomical studies as it contains several composition and structure that is uncommon for most of the planets we are familiar with.
The new exoplanet, known as b Centauri b is located in the high-mass b Centauri binary system, which contains two parent stars and was charted 325 lightyears away from our planet. According to the initial observation from the exoplanet, b Centauri b has a whopping mass that tops off the solar system's biggest member Jupiter by 11 times.
The b Centauri Binary System
A study was conducted to monitor and analyze the exoplanet's existence. Based on the calculations of the authors, the size of b Centauri b exceeds most of the discovered planets outside our system's premises. It lets the new exoplanet gain a spot among the biggest of the categories ever discovered.
The heavyweight exoplanet b Centauri b does not only surpass the mass of the gas giant Jupiter, but its parent stars also contain several features that beat our system's parent star. According to a report by Space, the binary stars in the Centauri system were estimated to have a more massive stellar body. When combined, the two stars will scale from 6 to 10 times larger than the sun. the existence of b Centauri b and its binary stars is the first-ever discovery of the biggest planet intact and active around two parent stars. In addition, the Centauri binary star system holds the record of highest temperature in any planet-hosting star system detected throughout the history of astronomical research.
Stockholm University's Department of Astronomy expert and author of the study Markus Janson said in the report that detecting the exoplanet in the system of b Centauri was a very good breakthrough as it presented a new breakthrough perspective of massive stars. In this case, they could truly take the role of hosting planets.
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Hotter and Younger Than The Sun
The b Centauri's binary stars have been sitting in deep space for about 15 million years since their initial formation. The age of the stellar bodies may sound too old, but the binary stars are significantly younger than our sun's which have been shining on the galaxy for over 4.5 billion years now.
The challenge on binary systems is that they cannot host and maintain planetary bodies around them due to several factors that impact the members and each of the stars. Before the discovery of the exoplanet b Centauri b and its stars, the first binary system discovered to have its members still present and active contained two stars with 2.7 solar masses, while the first biggest single star system ever to have planet members has a star that is 3 times larger than the sun.
The greatest feature ever presented by the b Centauri binary system is that its two stars have temperatures of about 18,000 degrees Celsius, a heat that surpasses our sun's hellish 5,500 degrees Celsius surface. This heat would mean that the high-energy X-rays, as well as intensive ultraviolet radiation, are being emitted right out of the binary stars, making it impossible for the system to maintain any planets or even simple gas and dust. The study was published in the journal Nature, titled "A wide-orbit giant planet in the high-mass b Centauri binary system."
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