Scientists spot signs of first planet outside our galaxy
- The object is thought to be the size of Saturn, and is located around 28 million light-years away, in the spiral galaxy Messier 41
- All previously discovered exoplanets have been less than 3,000 light-years away
For the first time in history, astronomers believe they have found signs of a planet outside our galaxy.
Around 28 million light-years away, a Saturn-sized planet in the spiral galaxy Messier 51 could exist, according to a study published on Monday in Nature Astronomy.
All exoplanets – a planet that orbits a star outside the solar system – discovered so far have been less than 3,000 light-years away.
A light year is how far light travels in one year. Light travels 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion km) in space a year, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
“We are trying to open up a whole new arena for finding other worlds by searching for planet candidates at X-ray wavelengths, a strategy that makes it possible to discover them in other galaxies,” Rosanne Di Stefano of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, who led the study, told Nasa.