DAILY MAIL
In a remarkable cosmic event, a gas planet resembling Jupiter which scientists say ‘should not have existed’ has defied all odds by surviving its host star’s explosion.
An international team discovered for the first time in history, a planet that seemed to have survived a violent stellar transition that should have caused a certain death by the hands of its sun.
A study detailing the findings was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
‘When we realized that Halla had managed to survive in the immediate vicinity of its giant star, it was a complete surprise,’ Doctor Daniel Huber, co-author of the study said.
The planet known as Halla, situated 520 light-years away from earth, was discovered by Korean astronomers in 2015. Halla orbits Baekdu, a massive star larger than our sun, located in the Ursa Minor constellation, also known as ‘Little Bear.’
Dr. Marc Hon, lead study author and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hawaii, told the New York Times that Halla is a ‘forbidden planet’ of sorts.
