A team of scientists from Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru and University of Delhi for the first time have seen indications of a massive planet orbiting a low mass X-ray binary star system.
The system MXB 1658-298 is an X-ray binary and a part of the constellation Ophiuchus (serpent bearer).
It is nearly 30,000 light years away and the planet is expected to be nearly 8,000 times as massive as the earth.
Key Points
X-ray binaries consist of a pair of stars orbiting each other of which one is compact one such as a black hole or a neutron star.
In this case it is a neutron star which draws matter from its less-massive companion and generates X-rays which are detected by detectors placed in satellites in space.
• X-ray binaries are a class of binary stars that are luminous in X-rays. The X-rays are produced by matter falling from one component, called the donor (usually a relatively normal star), to the other component, called the accretor, which is very compact: a neutron star or black hole.
• Exoplanet is a planet that does not orbit the Sun and instead orbits a different star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf. It is also termed as extrasolar planet.
• Neutron stars are created when giant stars die in supernovas and their cores collapse, with the protons and electrons essentially melting into each other to form neutrons.
This discovery is made with a new technique, X-Ray observation by measuring periodic delays in X-ray eclipses.
It is a new technique of detecting exoplanets and observations are done from space observatories.
In X-ray binaries, the time in-between eclipses of the source can increase, decrease and also shows abrupt changes.
But in MXB 1658-298, time between the eclipses increases and decreases periodically.
Current Affairs 1st April, 2017 Current Affairs One Liners 31st March, 2017 Current Affairs Round Up Bullet Points, March, 2017
Join The Discussion