Defying Astronomy: Planet Born from Dying Star Discovered in Retrograde Orbit

Scientists have discovered a giant planet that revolves against the natural trend of the movement of its stellar system,defying the rules of traditional astronomy. it is believed to have been born from the substance of a star that was dying and later turned into a white dwarf after losing more than 75% of its mass billions of years ago.

Most stars in the universe are found in binary or multi-star systems, where the presence of accompanying stars can negatively affect the formation and stability of the orbits of planets around one of the stars.

An international team of astronomical physicists led by Professor man Hui Lee from the Department of Earth Sciences and the Department of Physics at the Hong Kong university (HKU), including Wan Cheng, a master’s student, has confirmed the presence of a planet in an unprecedented retrograde orbit (moves in the opposite direction of the binary star orbit) within the binary star system Nu Octantis. The team revealed the role of the binary star’s evolution in the origin of this planet. the results were published in the Nature magazine,according to Daily Galaxy.

The Nu Octantz system is approximately 2.9 billion years old and includes two stars: Nu Octantz A, a semi-giant star with a mass about 1.6 times that of the sun, and Nu Octantz B, with a mass about half the sun’s mass.

These two stars revolve around each other once every 1050 days. While evidence for a planet revolving in this system was first monitored in 2004,the team was unable to confirm the planet’s existence and unusual retrograde orbit until recently,through modern high-resolution monitoring operations.

Scientists revealed that the secondary star, Nu Octantz B, was originally 2.4 times larger than the sun but lost most of its mass and transformed into a white dwarf about two billion years ago, now comprising only a quarter of its original mass.

Researchers suggest this shift launched material that formed a retrograde disk, leading to the emergence of a unique planet revolving against the orbit of the binary star, or perhaps it was captured from an external orbit.Analysis of stellar formations indicates the planet was not formed with the stars but later, consequently of the evolution of Nu Octantz B and its conversion into a white dwarf.

A New Perspective for Second-Generation planets

this remarkable probability study suggests that the planet Nu Octantz is a second-generation planet. dr. Trevon Trevonov,one of the study’s authors,suggests the planet may have been captured from an opposing orbit around the binary system or formed from the material expelled by Nu Octantz B,which lost over 75% of its original mass to become a white dwarf.He confirms: “We may witness the first convincing case of a second-generation planet; either captured, or formed from the substance expelled by nu Oct B.” This vision opens new horizons to study planet advancement, especially those formed in unusual circumstances or captured from other orbits.

The finding of retrograde planets challenges traditional models of planet formation. Typically, planets are expected to move in the same direction as their host star, consistent with the system’s overall angular momentum. The presence of a retrograde planet in such an interconnected binary system may indicate the ability of these systems to create unique planetary environments.