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    Undead Planets: The nusual Conditions of the First Exoplanet Detection

    July 13, 2022, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The artist's impression shows a blue and white hued pulsar in the background and a large dark planet in the foreground.
    Artist impression of the pulsar-planet system PSR B1257+12 detected in 1992. The pulsar and three radiation-doused planets are all that remains of a dead star system.
    Credit
    NASA/JPL-Caltech
    Licence type
    Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

    The first ever exoplanets were discovered 30 years ago around a rapidly rotating star, called a pulsar. Now, astronomers have revealed that these planets may be incredibly rare. The new work will be presented tomorrow (Tuesday 12 July) at the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2022) by Iuliana Nițu, a PhD student at the University of Manchester.

    The processes that cause planets to form, and survive, around pulsars are currently unknown...

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