PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Astronomers find rare twist in exoplanet’s twin star orbit

Astronomers find rare twist in exoplanet’s twin star orbit
2025-04-16
(Press-News.org) Astronomers have discovered a planet that orbits at a 90-degree angle around a rare pair of strange stars – a real-life ‘twist’ on the fictional twin suns of Star Wars hero Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine.

The exoplanet, named 2M1510 (AB) b, orbits a pair of young brown dwarfs — objects bigger than gas-giant planets but too small to be proper stars. Only the second pair of eclipsing brown dwarfs known – this is the first exoplanet found on a right-angled path to the orbit of its two host stars.

An international team of researchers led by the University of Birmingham, made the surprise discovery using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The brown dwarfs produce eclipses of one another, as seen from Earth, making them part of an ‘eclipsing binary’.

Publishing their discovery today (16 Apr) in Science Advances, the researchers note that this is the first time such strong evidence for a ‘polar planet’ orbiting a stellar pair is collected.

 

Thomas Baycroft, a PhD student at the University of Birmingham who led the study commented: “I’m particularly excited to be involved in detecting credible evidence that this configuration exists. We had hints that planets on perpendicular orbits around binary stars could exist, but until now we lacked clear evidence of this type of polar planet. We reviewed all possible scenarios, and the only consistent with the data is if a planet is on a polar orbit about this binary.”

 

The team found this planet while refining the orbital and physical parameters of the two brown dwarfs by collecting observations with the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) instrument on the VLT at Paranal Observatory, Chile.  

 

The astronomers observed the orbital path of the two stars in 2M1510 being pushed and pulled in unusual ways, leading them to infer the existence of an exoplanet with its strange orbital angle.

 

The pair of brown dwarfs, known as 2M1510, were detected in 2018 by Professor Amaury Triaud and others with the Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars (SPECULOOS) that the University of Birmingham partially owns.

 

Co-author Professor Triaud, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “A planet orbiting not just a binary, but a binary brown dwarf, as well as being on a polar orbit is rather incredible and exciting.

 

“The discovery was serendipitous, as our observations were not collected to seek such a planet, or orbital configuration. As such, it is a big surprise and shows what is possible in the fascinating universe we inhabit, where a planet can affect the orbits of its two stars, creating a delicate celestial dance.”

 

The discovery was made possible thanks to pioneering data analysis developed at Birmingham by Dr Lalitha Sairam (now at the University of Cambridge), who developed new methods that improved precision by a factor of 30.

 

Dr Sairam explains: “From variations in velocity of the two brown dwarfs, we can measure their physical and orbital parameters, however being faint, these measurements and therefore their parameters were uncertain. Thanks to that improvement we noticed the orbits of the two brown dwarfs around one another were being delicately affected.”

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Astronomers find rare twist in exoplanet’s twin star orbit

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Crystal clues on Mars point to watery and possibly life-supporting past

Crystal clues on Mars point to watery and possibly life-supporting past
2025-04-16
A QUT-led study analysing data from NASA’s Perseverance rover has uncovered compelling evidence of multiple mineral-forming events just beneath the Martian surface – findings that bring scientists one step closer to answering the profound question: did life ever exist on Mars? The QUT research team led by Dr Michael Jones, from the Central Analytical Research Facility and the School of Chemistry and Physics, includes Associate Professor David Flannery, Associate Professor Christoph Schrank, Brendan Orenstein and Peter Nemere, together with researchers from North America and Europe. The findings were published in the prestigious journal ...

Microbes in Brooklyn Superfund site teach lessons on fighting industrial pollution

2025-04-16
Using advanced DNA sequence analysis, a research team led by NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Assistant Professor Elizabeth Hénaff has discovered that tiny organisms in Brooklyn's highly contaminated Gowanus Canal have developed a comprehensive collection of pollution-fighting genes. The findings were published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology on April 15, 2025. The team identified 455 species of microorganisms wielding 64 different biochemical pathways to degrade pollutants ...

Porous and powerful: How multidirectional grading enhances piezoelectric plate performance

Porous and powerful: How multidirectional grading enhances piezoelectric plate performance
2025-04-16
Piezoelectric materials have long been celebrated for their ability to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, making them indispensable in smart systems for sensing, actuation, and vibration control. However, incorporating porosity and multidirectional grading into these materials introduces a host of challenges in understanding their behavior under varying environmental conditions. These complexities are further compounded by the interaction of hygrothermal conditions with electrical and mechanical loads. As a result, there is a pressing need for more in-depth research to predict the real-world performance of these materials. Published ...

Study finds dramatic boost in air quality from electrifying railways

Study finds dramatic boost in air quality from electrifying railways
2025-04-16
Switching from diesel to electric trains dramatically improved the air quality aboard the San Francisco Bay Area’s Caltrain commuter rail line, reducing riders’ exposure to the carcinogen black carbon by an average of 89%, finds a new study published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters.  The electrification of the system also significantly reduced the ambient black carbon concentrations within and around the San Francisco station, the study found. “The transition from diesel to electric trains occurred over just a few weeks, and yet we saw the same drop in black carbon concentrations in the station as California ...

Bite-sized chunks of chicken with the texture of whole meat can be grown in the lab

Bite-sized chunks of chicken with the texture of whole meat can be grown in the lab
2025-04-16
A bioreactor that mimics a circulatory system can deliver nutrients and oxygen to artificial tissue, enabling the production of over 10 grams of chicken muscle for cultured meat applications. These results are publishing in the Cell Press journal Trends in Biotechnology on April 16. “Our study presents a scalable, top-down strategy for producing whole-cut cultured meat using a perfusable hollow fiber bioreactor,” says senior author Shoji Takeuchi of The University of Tokyo. “This system enables cell distribution, alignment, contractility, ...

A compact, mid-infrared pulse generator

A compact, mid-infrared pulse generator
2025-04-16
Physicists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a compact laser that emits extremely bright, short pulses of light in a useful but difficult-to-achieve wavelength range, packing the performance of larger photonic devices onto a single chip. Published in Nature, the research is the first demonstration of an on-chip, picosecond, mid-infrared laser pulse generator that requires no external components to operate. The device can make what’s called an optical frequency comb, a spectrum of light consisting of equally spaced frequency lines (like a comb), used today in precision measurements. ...

Sex-based differences in binge and heavy drinking among US adults

2025-04-16
About The Study: This analysis found that past-month binge drinking among young adult females in 2021-2023 was higher than males, reversing 2017-2019 patterns, whereas males in other age groups continued to binge and heavy drink at higher rates. These findings may be due to more rapid decreases in binge drinking over time among young adult males relative to females, or to plateauing or increases in binge drinking among females. Further investigation using other nationally representative surveys is needed to elucidate these explanations. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Bryant Shuey, MD, MPH, email bryant.shuey@pitt.edu. To ...

Using vibrations to see into Yellowstone's magma reservoir

Using vibrations to see into Yellowstones magma reservoir
2025-04-16
Beneath Yellowstone lies a magma reservoir, pulsing with molten and superheated rock and exsolved gases. Scientists have long known about the chamber’s existence, but have yet to precisely locate its uppermost boundary and characterize the contents of the chamber closest to the surface—information crucial for understanding the potential perils this volcanic feature poses. That changed this week with new research by seismologists from the University of Utah and the University of New Mexico (UNM) who used hundreds of portable seismometers and a mechanical vibration source to render 2D seismic reflection images of the ground beneath Yellowstone’s caldera. Using ...

From disorder to order: scientists rejuvenate aging batteries

From disorder to order: scientists rejuvenate aging batteries
2025-04-16
A team of scientists led by Prof. LIU Zhaoping at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Chicago and other institutions, has developed zero thermal expansion (ZTE) materials. This innovation has achieved nearly 100% voltage recovery in aging lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), as detailed in a study published in Nature. LIBs have become increasingly essential in the markets for electric vehicles and aircraft. Lithium-rich layered oxide cathode materials can deliver record capacities exceeding 300 mAh/g, thanks to revolutionary oxygen-redox (OR) ...

Metabolism shapes life

Metabolism shapes life
2025-04-16
New research from Barcelona and Dresden: Glycolysis — the process of converting sugar into energy — plays a key role in early development. More than fuel: Glycolysis doesn’t just power cells — it helps steer them toward specific tissue types at critical moments in development. Better embryo models: Stem-cell–based embryo models that rely on glycolysis form structures more similar to natural embryos. Predict and control development in a dish: These findings improve our ability to predict and control how stem-cell-based embryo models will develop, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Study unexpectedly finds living in rural, rather than urban environments in first five years of life could be a risk factor for developing type 1 diabetes

Editorial urges deeper focus on heart-lung interactions in pulmonary vascular disease

Five University of Tennessee faculty receive Fulbright Awards

5 advances to protect water sources, availability

OU Scholar awarded Fulbright for Soviet cinema research

Brain might become target of new type 1 diabetes treatments

‘Shore Wars:’ New research aims to resolve coastal conflict between oysters and mangroves, aiding restoration efforts

Why do symptoms linger in some people after an infection? A conversation on post-acute infection syndromes

Study reveals hidden drivers of asthma flare-ups in children

Physicists decode mysterious membrane behavior

New insights about brain receptor may pave way for next-gen mental health drugs

Melanoma ‘sat-nav’ discovery could help curb metastasis

When immune commanders misfire: new insights into rheumatoid arthritis inflammation

SFU researchers develop a new tool that brings blender-like lighting control to any photograph

Pups in tow, Yellowstone-area wolves trek long distances to stay near prey

AI breakthrough unlocks 'new' materials to replace lithium-ion batteries

Making molecules make sense: A regional explanation method reveals structure–property relationships

Partisan hostility, not just policy, drives U.S. protests

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Tip Sheet: August 1, 2025

Young human blood serum factors show potential to rejuvenate skin through bone marrow

Large language models reshape the future of task planning

Narrower coverage of MS drugs tied to higher relapse risk

Researchers harness AI-powered protein design to enhance T-cell based immunotherapies

Smartphone engagement during school hours among US youths

Online reviews of health care facilities

MS may begin far earlier than previously thought

New AI tool learns to read medical images with far less data

Announcing XPRIZE Healthspan as Tier 5 Sponsor of ARDD 2025

Announcing Immortal Dragons as Tier 4 Sponsor of ARDD 2025

Reporting guideline for chatbot health advice studies

[Press-News.org] Astronomers find rare twist in exoplanet’s twin star orbit