Remote Planet Orbiting a Dying Star From Our Own Galaxy Could Harbor Life

Remote Planet Orbiting a Dying Star From Our Own Galaxy Could Harbor Life
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If you’re familiar with the phrase “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” it means you have some great taste in movies. But alien life doesn’t necessarily have to emerge in very remote locations of the Universe. It could even exist ‘next-door’ to us, and new research points to that scenario.

However, a potentially life-sustaining planet from another solar system isn’t exactly the best idea of “right next-door”. Let’s not forget that the closest solar system to ours, which is Alpha Centauri, is located roughly 4.2 light-years away from our solar system. But for the immensity of the Universe, 4.2 light-years means practically nothing.

Planet supporting life could revolve around the WD1054-226 white dwarf

According to Local12.com, scientists suspect that there could be some form of alien life revolving around the white dwarf known as WD1054-226, which is located 117 light-years away from us. Scientists from the University of College London discovered that there’s also a planet revolving around the dying star. A ring of debris is also surrounding the white dwarf, and that’s where things get exciting. There seem to be the right temperatures for water to also exist in that region.

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Given that no life form on Earth can possibly survive without water, there’s no wonder why scientists suspect that life can also exist on the exoplanet that orbits the dying star.

Jay Farihi, the lead author of the study, explained:

The moon-sized structures we have observed are irregular and dusty (e.g., comet-like) rather than solid, spherical bodies. 

He reveals one of the theories:

An exciting possibility is that these bodies are kept in such an evenly-spaced orbital pattern because of the gravitational influence of a nearby planet,

Without this influence, friction and collisions would cause the structures to disperse, losing the precise regularity that is observed. A precedent for this ‘shepherding’ is the way the gravitational pull of moons around Neptune and Saturn help to create stable ring structures orbiting these planets.

Therefore, if there are any aliens living on the planet surrounding the WD1054-226 white dwarf, they might already be eager to move their luggage to another planet. 


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Even since he was a child, Cristian was staring curiously at the stars, wondering about the Universe and our place in it. Today he's seeing his dream come true by writing about the latest news in astronomy. Cristian is also glad to be covering health and other science topics, having significant experience in writing about such fields.

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