A "Star Wars" planet with an unusual orbit has been discovered 120 light years from Earth - the first-ever "polar planet" orbiting at a 90-degree angle to its parent stars.
The bizarre exoplanet - named 2M1510 (AB) b - is located in the constellation of Libra, circling around two brown dwarfs which are often referred to as "failed stars".
Unlike previously discovered exoplanets, 2M1510 (AB) b rolls around its binary star system at a perfect 90-degree angle to the orbital plane of those stars.
While astronomers have found planets orbiting binary stars before, which are reminiscent of Tatooine in Star Wars, this latest discovery is the first solid evidence of a fully formed planet in a polar orbit around twin stars.
The bizarre exoplanet - named 2M1510 (AB) b - is located in the constellation of Libra
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Scientists had previously observed hints that such configurations might exist, spotting planet-forming protoplanetary disks around binary stars.
What makes this system even stranger is that the parent bodies - 2M1510 AB and 2M1510 C - are brown dwarfs.
Brown dwarfs earn their unfortunate nickname of "failed stars" because they lack sufficient mass to trigger hydrogen fusion in their cores, despite forming from collapsing clouds of gas and dust like normal stars.
Binary brown dwarf systems are exceedingly rare, as the likelihood of stellar bodies having binary partners increases with mass.
This is also only the second pair of eclipsing brown dwarfs ever discovered, where one brown dwarf passes in front of the other from Earth's perspective.
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"I am particularly excited to be involved in detecting credible evidence that this configuration exists," said team leader Thomas Baycroft of the University of Birmingham.
The researchers discovered the unusual planet while studying the orbits of the two brown dwarfs using the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph instrument on the Very Large Telescope in Chile.
They observed that the failed stars were being "pushed and pulled" by the gravitational influence of an unseen planet.
"We reviewed all possible scenarios, and the only one consistent with the data is if a planet is on a polar orbit about this binary," Baycroft explained.
Astronomers have said that the planet's nature is somewhat reminiscent of Luke Skywalker's home planet, Tatooine, in Star Wars
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Team member Amaury Triaud of the University of Birmingham described the finding as "rather incredible and exciting".
"A planet orbiting not just a binary, but a binary brown dwarf, as well as being on a polar orbit, is rather incredible and exciting," he said.
Triaud was already familiar with these failed stars, having been part of the team that discovered them in 2018 using the Search for Habitable Planets Eclipsing Ultra-cool Stars (SPECULOOS) at Paranal Observatory in Chile, as he added that its discovery was "serendipitous".
"Our observations were not collected to seek such a planet, or orbital configuration. As such, it is a big surprise," Triaud concluded.
"Overall, I think this shows to us astronomers, but also to the public at large, what is possible in the fascinating universe we inhabit," he added.
