The Press Stories
American astronomers have come up with new evidence for the existence of the first planet outside our galaxy. So far, about 5,000 extrasolar planets have been discovered, orbiting a star other than the Sun. Each of these previously discovered bodies is located in a spiral galaxy, the British insist Station BBC.
The new planet, first predicted to be the size of Saturn, is the first planet outside the Milky Way. It is located in the Vortex Galaxy Messier 51 or M51, discovered in 1773 by Charles Messier. It is about 28 million light-years from the Milky Way.
Dr. behind the new discovery. Rosenne de Stephen and his colleagues at the Harvard-Smithson Astronomy Center. In their experiment, the American team used the Chandra X-ray X-ray Laboratory. The X-ray telescope, one of NASA’s largest projects, was built in 1999 by the US company TRW Space & Electronics Group.
Astronomers used a so-called mode of transport to find the planet. This method involves locating the planets by observing the regular shadows of the starlight. According to experts, they occur when the Exoplanet orbits at an angle that makes its star visible from Earth. The transport system has proven to be very appropriate and successful in identifying new cosmic bodies, and scientists have been using it for a long time.
“The method we have developed and used is the only possible way to find planets in other galaxies,” Stephen was quoted as saying by British media.
What do we know about the new planet?
It took about 3 hours for the planet to pass against the background of the neutron star, during which the X-ray emission was reduced to zero. Using this and other data, the US team discovered that the new object is the size of Saturn, the second largest planet in the solar system. The new planet orbits a neutron star or black hole at a distance of twice as large as Saturn from the Sun.
However, astronomers agree that more experiments are needed to verify their own findings. One of the main problems is that the planet has a large orbit, which means that in 70 years it will pass in front of its binary star.
“To confirm that this is a planet, we will have to wait decades to see another transport.” He says Nia Imara, Project Associate Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Therefore, scientists have said that further research will not be possible in the future. The U.S. team expects other astronomers to join the new research. “We know this is a bold statement, so we expect other astronomers to look at it very carefully,” said Julia Berndsson of Princeton University in New Jersey.
