Scientists say there may be a “major planet” that could potentially support life for at least 1 billion years into the future

It turns out that stars like our sun may not have to be alive and thriving to sustain life. Scientists say they have discovered a possible “major planet” orbiting a dying sun that could support life for future generations.

Researchers at University College London made the “unexpected” discovery while observing a white dwarf, the bright remains of a star that ran out of hydrogen fuel, 117 light-years away. This particular star, known as WD1054-226, has a ring of planetary debris in its orbital habitable zone, also known as the Rich Gold Zone, where temperatures should, in theory, allow the planet to have water. liquid on its surface.

If it is confirmed that the discovered object is a life-supporting planet, it would be the first time that a life-supporting planet has been found orbiting a dying sun.

The scientists made the discovery while measuring the light of the white dwarf and published their findings in the Royal Astronomical Society’s monthly Notices. They said they found sharp light drops corresponding to 65 uniformly spaced debris clouds orbiting WD1054-226 every 25 hours.

“The moon-sized structures we’ve observed are irregular and dusty (for example, comet-like) instead of solid, spherical bodies,” said UCL Professor of Physics and Astronomy Jay Farihi, the author. main study, in a statement. He said the structures are currently a “mystery we can’t explain,” but offered a likely and “unexpected” possibility: a nearby planet.

“An exciting possibility is that these bodies remain in such an evenly spaced orbital pattern due to the gravitational influence of a nearby planet. Without this influence, friction and collisions would cause the structures to disperse, losing regularity. “A precedent for this” grazing “is the way the gravitational pull of the moons around Neptune and Saturn helps create stable ring structures that orbit these planets,” Farihi said. he added that he and his team were “not looking for that”.

The possibility of a “major planet” in the habitable zone of the star is exciting, but he stressed that this planet is not yet confirmed. Farihi said his team still needs more tests, which can be difficult because they cannot observe the planet directly. Instead, they may have to rely on computer models with other observations of the star and its orbiting debris to get a clearer answer.

The team hopes that if there is in fact a planet, it only developed recently, and that it would be habitable for at least 2 billion years, including at least 1 billion years in the future.

Their discovery could also help scientists develop a better understanding of our own solar system, as more than 95% of all stars, including our sun, will eventually become white dwarfs.

“Because our sun will become a white dwarf in a few billion years,” Farihi said, “our study provides an insight into the future of our own solar system.”

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