In what appears to be the first sign of a planet outside our galaxy, astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered a possible exoplanet. It was discovered by scientists in the Whirlpool Galaxy. Believed to exist in the spiral galaxy Messier 51 or M51, this is the first of its kind observation in history. Not much is known about this exoplanet. An exoplanet is a planet outside our galaxy that orbits a star. All the other exoplanets discovered so far are present in the Milky Way. Most of them are at a distance of 3,000 light-years from Earth.
The newly discovered possible exoplanet is expected to be around 28 million light-years away. This distance is thousands of times farther than the limits of the Milky Way. “We are trying to open a whole new arena. We are using X-ray wavelengths to search for planet candidates. This strategy helps scientists to discover planets in other galaxies,” Rosanne Di Stefano, who led the study, said. While there are very few details about the exoplanet is known, researchers believe that it could be around the same size as Saturn. It is most likely orbiting around its own version of the sun. According to scientists, it is orbiting at around double the distance of Saturn from our sun.
The initial details may look exciting but NASA said that it would need to do a lot more research before confirming the existence of the exoplanet. And that is not an easy thing to do. Scientists may have to wait for decades before they can confirm anything. This is because of the large orbit of the planet candidate. Because of the large size of the planet, it may take the next 70 years to cross in front of the binary partner. Still, the development is a ray of hope for those who have been eagerly searching for signs of planets beyond our own galaxy.
