The ALMA radio telescope located in the Atacama Desert of Chile has recently collected incredible data from a pair of giant planets bound together in a single orbit.
This is something that has never been recorded in the world of planets, according to Sci-News.
Previously, mutual asteroid interactions were known, if not quite common, in our Solar System. However, a large planetary-sized object existing in such a manner has only been a theoretical and controversial idea.
The findings from the team led by researcher Olga Balsalobre-Ruza from the Spanish Center for Astrobiology are astonishingly significant.
Images from ALMA show that around the central star PDS 70 is a large protoplanetary disk with several forming planets in the gap, including PDS 70b circled in red with a smaller twin (dashed circle) present alongside it, both on the same orbit – (Image: ALMA)
The groundbreaking discovery, recently published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, comes from a star named PDS 70 which is located 370 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus.
This is a young star, only 5.4 million years old, hosting two protoplanets and a massive disk of dust and gas surrounding the region from 20 to 40 AU (astronomical units, where 1 AU is the distance from the Sun to Earth).
Located 22 AU from the parent star is the planet PDS 70b, and 34 AU away is the planet PDS 70c, both of which are comparable in size to Jupiter.
However, closer observations revealed a “ghost” closely attached to PDS 70b, orbiting alongside it. Its shape is unclear, appearing only as a thin cloud of debris, about twice the size of Earth’s Moon. It is highly likely that this is also a protoplanet.
In other words, PDS 70b has a nearly attached twin, smaller in size, which could be considered a form of “parasitic” planet that may have formed and coexisted with it on the same orbit forever.
“Who could imagine two worlds sharing the same time of year and living conditions? Our work is the first evidence that such a world can exist,” said astronomer Balsalobre-Ruza.
According to senior author Dr. Nuria Huelamo, this research is a first step in searching for co-orbital planets very early in the formation process.
The researchers plan to continue monitoring this strange world with a detailed survey set to take place in 2026 to observe how PDS 70b and its twin move along their orbit and whether they remain together.
Regardless of future results, the discovery of PDS 70b and its “little sibling” is considered a significant breakthrough in exoplanet research.
