Discovery: Scientists locate 1st exoplanet in Whirlpool Galaxy
Avya Mathur
New Delhi: Scientists on Monday announced the discovery of the first possible exoplanet outside the Milky Way Galaxy using X-Ray technology.
The exoplanet, named M51-ULS-1b, lies 28 million light-years away in the Messier 51 (M51) or Whirlpool Galaxy. It was spotted orbiting a double-star system, according to media reports.
Revealing the discovery on Twitter, Chandra Observatory wrote, “Chandra scientists have found the first possible planet candidate outside of our galaxy! About 28 million light-years from the Earth in galaxy M51, it is thousands of times farther away than all the other exoplanets detected in our Milky Way.”
The scientific team, led by astrophysicist Rosanne Di Stefano, used Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA, and XMM-Newton space telescope of the European Space Agency to observe three planets beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. They studied 55 different systems in the Whirlpool Galaxy, 64 in the Pinwheel Galaxy, and 119 in the Sombrero Galaxy.
An official statement read, “The team used Chandra to look for dips in the brightness of X-rays produced by small areas on stars. Planets passing in front of those stars can block X-ray emissions entirely. Therefore, instead of subtle dimming of optical light, researchers could see a more obvious transit, thus making it easier to see farther objects.”
Approximately the size of Saturn, M51-ULS-1b was in a binary system orbiting a black hole or a neutron star that orbited a massive companion star. The transit lasted three hours, and the object will transit in front of its star after 70 years.
“We are trying to open up a whole new arena for finding other worlds by searching for planet candidates at X-ray wavelengths, a strategy that makes it possible to discover them in other galaxies,” Di Stefano said.
Nearly 4,000 exoplanets have so far been discovered in the Milky Way.
An exoplanet is made up of similar elements and lies beyond the solar system. Although most exoplanets orbit stars, certain planets that orbit the galactic center are free-floating and unconfined to any star are called rogue planets. They were often found within, near, and surrounding the Milky Way Galaxy.
The Whirlpool Galaxy, also called the Messier 51 (M51), is a 400.3 million-year-old spiral galaxy within the northern Canes Venatici constellation, southeast of the Big Dipper, and lies 23.16 million light-years away from the Earth.
First discovered in 1992, all exoplanets were less than 3,000 light-years from the Earth.
