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♪
NASA’s TESS and Spitzer missions just discovered a strange sight —

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maybe the first example of a giant world
orbiting extremely close to a small, dead star.

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The object, called WD 1856 b, is roughly the same size as Jupiter,
with possibly up to 14 times its mass.

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About every day and a half, it orbits a white dwarf,

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a star containing half the Sun’s mass in a space
only slightly larger than Earth.

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TESS hunts for regular dips in starlight caused when planets
pass in front of, or transit, their stars.

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TESS discovered WD 1856 b’s transits,
which were then confirmed by Spitzer.

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Finding a potential planet so close to a white dwarf is surprising.

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Stars like WD 1856 often start out looking much like our Sun.

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But as they age, they transform into red giants,
engulfing any nearby planets.

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Then their atmospheres blow away,
revealing their dead white dwarf cores.

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So, WD 1856 b likely formed much farther away from its star.

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Scientists think there are several ways it may have moved inward,
closer to where we find it today.

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Then the effects of the star’s gravity would have nudged it
into its current orbit.


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For example, it’s possible the system had additional massive planets.

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As the star evolved and disrupted the planets’ orbits,

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their gravitational interactions could have kicked WD 1856 b closer inward.

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Although the possible planet orbits the white dwarf,
there are two other small, distant stars in the system.

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Perhaps their combined gravitational influence
could have altered its orbit over time.

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Or, perhaps a massive object from deep space, such as another star,
could have thrown the entire system into disarray.

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No matter the cause, the system then settled
into its current state over billions of years.

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Scientists think this finding could help us understand how
other star systems, including our own, may evolve.

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In the meantime, though, TESS will continue its search for
more potential worlds like WD 1856 b …

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… and possibly find even stranger ones.

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♪
ON-SCREEN: EXPLORE SOLAR SYSTEM & BEYOND

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