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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

A massive planet circles a huge star doomed to explode

Confirmation of a second planet around the star μ2 Scorpii would indicate the first planetary system at a supernova-in-waiting.
IRDIS images of µ 2 Sco obtained with TLOCI

A planet called μ2 Sco b (inner white dot at 4 o’clock) circles a star that will eventually flame out in an enormous explosion. Credit: V. Squicciarini et al./Astron. Astrophys. (CC BY 4.0)

A planet, and an object likely to be a planet, orbit a heavyweight star so massive that it will end its life in a spectacular explosion. The pair could comprise the first planetary system yet to be discovered around a star destined to form a supernova1.

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Nature 609, 13 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02166-0

References

  1. Squicciarini, V. et al. Astron. Astrophys. 664, A9 (2022).

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