Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet orbiting a tiny star

A Jupiter-sized planet has been found orbiting a relatively small, low-mass star. This surprised astronomers and called into question the theory of the formation of planets, writes Space.

It revolves around the red dwarf TOI-4860, which has a mass equivalent to a third of the mass of the Sun.

The exoplanet was named TOI-4860 b. It completes its rotation around the orbit approximately once every 1.5 Earth days.

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This is unusual for two reasons. First, such planets should not form around low-mass stars. And second, TOI-4860 b appears to be highly enriched in metals, a term astronomers use to describe elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.

“According to the canonical model of planet formation, the smaller the mass of a star, the less massive the disk of material around that star”,” said team member and University of Birmingham Ph.D. George Drensfield.

Because planets form from this disk, it was thought that massive planets like Jupiter would not form. However, it intrigued scientists, so they wanted to test the candidate planets to see if such a phenomenon was possible at all.

TOI-4860 was the first confirmation, and also the star with the lowest mass, on which a planet of such a large mass is located.

It was spotted by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which searches for planets outside the solar system. It does this by looking for tiny drops of bright light emitted by stars.

These dips occur when an orbiting planet crosses or transits the face of its parent star. Then scientists continued this observation with the help of the Southern Observatory.

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In it, exoplanets are searched for using the SPECULOOS complex, which focuses on small and cold stars. Using this technology, a planet was observed appearing and disappearing.

How such a large exoplanet ended up orbiting a low-mass star remains a mystery, but the composition of TOI-4860 b may indicate its origin.

“A hint of what might have happened is hidden in the properties of the planets, which appear to be particularly enriched in heavy elements”said University of Birmingham professor and team leader Amory Trio.

He added that the abundance of heavy elements could have served as a catalyst to accelerate the process of planet formation. The short orbital period of TOI-4860 b, combined with the properties of its parent star, such as its high metal content, means that the system could be particularly useful for studying the atmospheres of warm Jupiters and better understanding how these gas giants are born.

The team that discovered this exoplanet now intends to look for similar worlds around their diminutive parent stars.

We will remind you that earlier we talked about the newly discovered exoplanet, where the new year comes every 5 days.