First Planet Outside the Milky Way May Have Been Discovered

NASA announced that the first signs of a planet located outside the Milky Way galaxy have been detected. Scientists from Harvard University announced that they may have discovered the first planet outside the Milky Way Galaxy.

Researchers using NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton telescope announced that they have found the possible planet in Messier 51 (M51), also known as the Whirlpool galaxy. It was recorded that the celestial body is 28 million light-years from Earth.

Nearly 5 exoplanets have been found outside the solar system so far, and all of them are located in the Milky Way Galaxy. In the statement made by NASA, it was stated that if the discovered celestial body is confirmed as a planet, it will be thousands of times farther than those in the Milky Way.

Rosanne Di Stefano of the Harvard University Center for Astrophysics, lead author of the study, said, "We are looking for other planets in the universe using the wavelengths of X-rays. "This is a new strategy," he said.

X-ray method was used

However, planets block most or all of the X-rays emitted by stars as they pass in front of them. The decrease in the rays emitted by the stars is observed with telescopes, providing evidence of the existence of new planets.

As part of the study, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the researchers found the potential planet by looking at dips in X-rays, not the star's light, as the planet passed in front of it.

the size of Saturn

However, the authors of the study announced that they believe the planet is the size of Saturn, which they named "M51-ULS-1b."

In addition, it was reported that “M51-ULS-1b” revolves around a neutron star or black hole.

Very unlikely to be seen from Earth

On the other hand, the researchers stated that the potential planet completed its orbit in 70 years and explained that the chance of being observed from Earth is very low.

University of Southern Queensland astrophysicist Prof. Jonti Horner says, “It has to be lined up in the right position at the right time for us to see it. "If you observe millions of times randomly over 70 years, you can only catch the transit of the possible planet in 4 of these times," he said.