Scientists have discovered a rocky planet in our galaxy that is about 10 billion years old and believe it is likely that there was Life on it before. Given that the Milky Way is only about 12 billion years old, it suggests that this planet was created almost at the beginning of the galaxy’s existence. Scientists believe that the discovery of this planet will change the way scientists look at the search for intelligent alien life.
The planet, TOI-561b, is about 280 light-years from Earth, located in the southern sky in the constellation Sextans, and is 1.45 times the size and about three times the mass of Earth.
Its host star, TOI-561, an orange dwarf, is also about 10 billion years old, making it one of the oldest known stars in our galaxy.
TOI-561b is one of the oldest rocky planets ever discovered,” said study leader Lauren Weiss, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hawaii. Its existence suggests that the universe has been producing rocky planets since its inception 14 billion years ago.”
The “super-Earth” named TOI-561b
The planet orbits its host star in just 10.5 hours and rotates in sync with it, much like our Moon orbits the Earth in a pattern that always has only one side facing its host star. This means that it is always day on one side of the planet and always night on the other. Researchers estimate that the side facing its host star can reach temperatures as high as 4,000°F and is likely to be a magma ocean, while the night side is likely to be a rocky terrestrial surface.
Unusual location in “thick galactic disk” region
Researchers say that most spiral galaxies like the Milky Way have two disks: a thin disk and a thick disk. Imagine that the galaxy is like two eggs stuck back-to-back, and the thin disk refers to the flattened protein region. This region is relatively dense with stars. But there are also a lot of stars in the area near the top and bottom of this region, and scientists call the whole large area the thick disk region.
In general, stars in the thick disk region lack metallic elements like iron and magnesium, so scientists assume that these star systems are unlikely to have planets in them. As most observations have shown, most planets are located in star systems with thin disks.
But this newly discovered planet is located in the thick disk region of the Milky Way.
Expanding the limits of scientists’ search for extraterrestrial life
Stars in the thick disk region are also relatively older, suggesting that this rocky planet emerged and began evolving at the birth of the universe more than 10 billion years ago. Scientists think it’s likely that there was life on it billions of years ago.
This suggests that rocky planets have been produced over the past 10 billion years, and even over the entire 12 billion year history of the galaxy,” Weiss said. Imagine what kind of history there is on top of rocky planets that are 10 billion years old. I’d love to know.”
The study was presented at the recent 237th meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The study will be published in the February issue of The Astronomical Journal.
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