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Astronomers Confirm First Polar-Orbit Exoplanet Around Eclipsing Brown Dwarfs

The exoplanet 2M1510 (AB) b orbits at a 90-degree angle to its host stars' plane, marking a groundbreaking discovery in planetary system dynamics.

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Two stars with their orbits depicted in linked rings, with a planet shown orbiting the stars in a perpendicular ring.

Overview

  • The exoplanet 2M1510 (AB) b is the first confirmed planet to orbit a binary system in a polar configuration, perpendicular to the stars' orbital plane.
  • The host stars are an eclipsing brown dwarf binary, only the second such system ever documented, adding to the discovery's rarity.
  • Astronomers used the Very Large Telescope’s UVES spectrograph to detect the planet's gravitational influence on the stars' motion.
  • Evidence suggests a distant third brown dwarf in the system, hinting at a complex evolutionary history possibly involving a former triple-star configuration.
  • The findings, published in Science Advances on April 16, 2025, highlight the diversity of planetary system architectures and the capabilities of modern observational techniques.