đ Astronomers have found a planet going around its star in the opposite direction!
Meet GJ 3090 b, a sub-Neptune about 73 light-years from Earth that follows a remarkable retrograde orbit around its red dwarf star.
Researchers measured its orbital angle at about 136 degrees, meaning the planet travels in the opposite direction to the star's rotation.
And there's an even bigger twist: GJ 3090 b is the first known retrograde planet discovered around an M-dwarf star. đ
Scientists used the NIRPS infrared spectrograph on the ESO 3.6-meter telescope at Chile's La Silla Observatory to measure the planet's unusual orbital orientation.
The system does contain other planets, including the confirmed GJ 3090 c, but researchers have found no evidence of a massive companion that could explain GJ 3090 b's extreme orbit.
So how did this planet end up traveling backward?
One possibility is that its star once acquired a misaligned, retrograde disk of material from which planets could have formed. But that's still a hypothesis â and astronomers now have a fascinating planetary puzzle to investigate. đđĒ
