in the ever-growing hunt for exoplanets
astronomers have recently discovered
that one of the oldest stars in the
milky way
actually hosts a hot rocky super earth
when it absolutely should not
this unprecedented discovery might just
help us better understand the building
blocks of the universe
starting from the very beginning
following the big bang scientists
suspect that the universe
solely consisted of lightweight elements
like hydrogen helium and even traces of
lithium
meaning that only gaseous planets could
be formed in the early universe
so it's no surprise that everyone's jaw
literally hit the floor
when scientists found a 10 billion year
old star hosting a rocky planet
the star is known as the creative name
toi 561
and the planet toi 561b
this star planet pairing is a bit of an
anomaly because the two are found in a
region of the milky way known as the
thick disk
with the help of data collected by
nasa's kepler space telescope
astronomers estimate the thick disk to
be about 10 billion years old
and in order to form a rocky planet
heavier elements like carbon
iron and even magnesium are needed
heavier elements weren't originally
thought to have formed until the first
stars did
which is roughly 200 million years after
the big bang these metals are formed
through fusion reactions in the hearts
of stars
then expelled when a star dies in a
supernova explosion
once released into the universe the
elements can then continue the great
circle of
life at least from a star's perspective
all this to say that 10 billion years
ago the heavier elements needed for
planet formation
weren't really in abundance this newly
found rocky planet also has a density
that's similar to earth's which is
actually really weird because
a planet that old should have a higher
density and to top it off
toi 561 actually hosts at least two
other planets that are gaseous
instead of rocky so while scientists are
still unsure how the planet formed
they're coming to the conclusion that
the universe has been building planets
almost since it was born
the discovery was a combined effort by
nasa's test mission
an exoplanet hunting telescope that uses
the transit method to collect data on
planets
and a team of researchers at the w.m
keck observatory in hawaii they
identified the rocky planet as a super
earth
because it has a mass of more than one
and a half earths and a radius that's
roughly
1.4 times larger after the exoplanet's
original discovery by tess
the team at the keck observatory was
able to measure the planet's mass using
a customized instrument that collects
information during the transit method
using the high resolution echelon
spectrometer or high res
astronomers can measure the wobble in a
star using the planet's gravitational
pull
the team used this measurement to
determine the mass of the planet which
then compared to other known planets
helped them classified as rocky but
apart from this super earth's mass
radius and density
that's really where the close
comparisons to earth end because its
orbital period is less
than 12 hours it takes longer to cross
the united states in a car
this puts the exoplanet literally so
close to its host star
that its estimated surface temperature
is more than 1226 degrees celsius
which absolutely scorches any hopes of
life
and the interesting thing about this
discovery is that we aren't hoping to
find living organisms on the exoplanet
instead toi 561b provides a unique
opportunity to understand the elements
present
during the very beginning of the
universe answering questions like
where did the heavy elements needed to
create toi 561b come from
and what is the origin of the old stars
in the galaxy thick disk
this super earth discovery suggests the
possibility of other ancient rocky
planets out there in the galaxy
and can help scientists and astronomers
better understand the building blocks
of our universe if you want to learn
more about tess's missions to search for
exoplanets
check out marin's video here make sure
to subscribe to seeker for more
planetary discoveries and thanks so much
for watching
i'll see you next time on seeker