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Possible planet found in habitable zone of hottest known star

Astronomers may have found a giant planet in the habitable zone of the hottest star ever known to host one, according to a study published in the Astrophysical Journal.

The star, HD 156295, sits 140 light-years from Earth and burns at 13,500 degrees Fahrenheit on its surface — far hotter than our Sun’s roughly 10,000 degrees. It is twice as big and nine times more luminous than the Sun, and is visible to the naked eye as a bluish-white point of light.

The potential planet, HD 156295 b, sits in the zone where conditions could theoretically allow water to exist. But it is no Earth: researchers estimate it is six times bigger than Jupiter, orbits at four times the Earth-Sun distance, and takes 2,200 days — about six years — to circle its star.

To find it, the team scanned 16,500 pulsating Delta Scuti stars using NASA’s TESS planet-hunting telescope. “If confirmed, HD 156295 would be the hottest star to host a habitable-zone planet,” the researchers wrote. Confirmation will need follow-up observations.

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