In a striking scene from the iconic 1977 film Star Wars, the young hero Luke Skywalker gazes at the mesmerizing sight of two suns setting on the horizon of his desolate home planet Tatooine. This cinematic moment has long captured the imagination of audiences. Remarkably, astronomers have since identified actual celestial bodies known as circumbinary planets that orbit not just one, but two stars. However, a newly discovered circumbinary planet is pushing the boundaries of our understanding of such worlds.

Located relatively close within our Milky Way galaxy, this extraordinary planet orbits not two traditional stars but rather two brown dwarfs. These intriguing objects serve as a middle ground in the celestial hierarchy, being too massive to be classified as planets yet lacking sufficient mass to ignite nuclear fusion and become full-fledged stars. Brown dwarfs are often regarded as 'failed stars' and are characterized by their modest luminosity compared to their stellar counterparts.

Utilizing the advanced capabilities of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile, researchers have gathered compelling evidence of a gas planet, designated as 2M1510 (AB) b, located approximately 120 light-years from Earth. This planet is estimated to have a mass four to five times greater than that of our home planet. The brown dwarfs it orbits are significantly more massive than Jupiter, each boasting a weight roughly 35 times that of the largest planet in our solar system, which itself is about 318 times the mass of Earth.

The two brown dwarfs are gravitationally bound to one another, orbiting closely at a distance equivalent to just 4 percent of that between Earth and the Sun. A third brown dwarf exists within this system, although it is situated far awayapproximately 250 times the distance between Earth and the Sunensuring that its gravitational effects on the other two are negligible.

Of the nearly 5,800 confirmed exoplanetsplanets located beyond our solar systemonly 16 are classified as circumbinary planets. Notably, until this recent discovery, none of these identified planets orbited brown dwarfs, marking a significant milestone in the exploration of exoplanetary systems.

The orbital characteristics of 2M1510 (AB) b are exceptionally unique as well. Unlike the typical orbital planes seen in other systems, this planet follows a polar orbitmeaning it orbits almost perpendicularly to the plane established by the two brown dwarfs. This unusual journey takes at least 100 days, distinguishing it further from the more common orbits of other exoplanets.

Thomas Baycroft, a doctoral candidate in astronomy at the University of Birmingham and the lead author of the study published in Science Advances, explained, A satellite on a polar orbit around the Earth is one that would pass over the north and south poles, thus being inclined at 90 degrees to the Earth's rotation axis. Notably, no planet in our solar system exhibits a polar orbit, and those exoplanets known to do so typically revolve around a single star.

In a binary systemlike the one featured in Star Wars, where two stars or brown dwarfs orbit one anotherthe perspective from 2M1510 (AB) b would present a vastly different view than that experienced by Skywalker. Instead of two distinct suns, observers on the planet would see two identical brown dwarfs, casting a reddish hue across the sky. These brown dwarfs, each approximately 4 percent the mass of the Sun, emit only about 0.1 percent of the sun's overall luminosity.

This discovery unveils an exotic configuration for a planetary system, remarked Amaury Triaud, an astrophysicist at the University of Birmingham and co-author of the study. Since the first exoplanet was discovered, one of the most remarkable insights has been the incredible diversity of planetary systems. These systems often challenge our preconceptions, presenting an exciting opportunity for learning and exploration.

Triaud further emphasized the importance of this finding, noting that while scientists had long speculated about the existence of exoplanets in polar orbits around binary systems, this represents the first substantial evidence to support that hypothesis.