from today's edition of the journal Science: Astronomers from Germany report a new exoplanet with two startling characteristics. First, it closely orbits a star that has already exhausted its hydrogen supply and moved past the red giant stage, so this hot Jupiter has so far survived without being evaporated (despite its proximity—just 0.12 astronomical units). But second, and most striking: This planet and star came from another galaxy. From Phil Plait:
A fascinating discovery
OK, first, this planet is in our own Milky Way galaxy. The star, called HIP 13044, is about 2000 light years away, well inside our galaxy. So how do we know it’s from a different galaxy? All the stars in our galaxy orbit the galactic center, like planets orbit around a star. But many years ago, astronomers noticed that many stars in the sky have the same sort of motion as they orbit, as if they all belong to streams of stars, flowing like water in a river. Many such streams exist, and eventually astronomers figured out that these were the leftover remnants of entire small galaxies that had collided with, been torn apart, and basically eaten by our Milky Way.
HIP 13044 is part of one of those streams, called the Helmi Stream. It’s the remains of a dwarf galaxy the Milky Way tore apart probably more than 6 billion years ago. So the star and its planet formed in an actual other galaxy, one that either orbited the Milky Way or had an unfortunately too-close pass to it. Either way, wow!
During a web conference this morning, study coauthor Rainer Klement said we shouldn't be surprised the star and planet are still together even though our galaxy tore theirs apart. Galaxies are structures of stars, but the stars themselves are still so far away that even during a galactic breakup they don't pass near enough to one another to gravitationally influence a planet. "The timescale upon which such stars play a role is larger than the age of the universe," he said. Read the rest of Phil's post
at Bad Astronomy. Related Content: 80beats: Astronomers Predict a Bonanza of Earth-Sized Exoplanets
80beats: Um… That “Goldilocks” Exoplanet May Not Exist
Discoblog: So, How Long Would It Take to Travel to That Exciting New Exoplanet?
DISCOVER: How Long Until We Find a Second Earth?
Image: ESO
