According to a study published in the journal Nature wrote that a gigantic has been discovered orbiting a dead star. The found of the exoplanet dubbed WD 1586 b is the first recorded instance of this phenomenon.
The study wrote that WD 1586 b whips around its dead star which is located in the Draco constellation, completing an orbit every 34 hours. And the planet is about 80 light-years from Earth and roughly the size of Jupiter (approximately 318 times larger than Earth). The researchers found the planet by looking through data collected by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in 2018.
From the study, the researchers believe that WD 1586 b survived after was pulled during the star’s evolution from red giant to white dwarf.
One of the author and also the assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas named Ian Crossfield told CNN that the star probably died 6 billion years ago.
Crossfield added that while much smaller, a similar evolution could happen to Earth when the Sun evolves.
“In around five billion years our Sun will become a white dwarf,” Crossfield said.
