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2024NatAs...8.1575Z - Nature Astronomy, 8, 1575-1582 (2024/December-0)

An Earth-mass planet and a brown dwarf in orbit around a white dwarf.

ZHANG K., ZANG W., EL-BADRY K., LU J.R., BLOOM J.S., AGOL E., GAUDI B.S., KONOPACKY Q., LEBARON N., MAO S. and TERRY S.

Abstract (from CDS):

It has been theorized that terrestrial planets born beyond 1-3 au could avoid being engulfed during the red-giant phases of their host stars. Nevertheless, only a few gas-giant planets have been observed around white dwarfs (WDs), the end product left behind by a red giant. Here we report on evidence that the lens system that produced the microlensing event KMT-2020-BLG-0414 is composed of a WD orbited by an Earth-mass planet and a brown dwarf companion, as shown by the non-detection of the lens flux using Keck adaptive optics. From microlensing orbital motion constraints, we determine the planet to be a 1.9 ± 0.2 Earth-mass (M⊕) planet at a physical separation of 2.1 ± 0.2 au from the WD during the event. By considering the system's evolutionary history, we determine the brown dwarf companion to have a projected separation of 22 au from the WD and reject a degenerate model that places the brown dwarf at 0.2 au. Given the planetary orbital expansion during the final evolutionary stages of the host star, this Earth-mass planet may have existed in an initial orbit close to 1 au, thereby offering a glimpse into the possible survival of planet Earth in the distant future.


Abstract Copyright: 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited

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