Exoplanet in orbit of a red giant star escapes destruction

Artist's impression of the violent merger of two stars, which may created the star Baekdu, a red giant. The mergermight have formed a new protoplanetary disk, which formed the planet Halla. (Credit: Tobias Roetsch/GTGRAPHICS.DE)

The planet 8 UMi b, also known as Halla, seems to have survived the expansion of its host star to red giant phase. This discovery, published in the prestigious journal Nature, has the participation of a researcher from the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço.

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