In the center of the galaxy discovered something big and heavy

Using the effect of a gravitational lens, astrophysicists managed to register in the very center of the Milky Way a massive object – either a huge planet, or a sub-object, a brown dwarf. The new object was named OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb (briefly OGLE).

Using the effect of a gravitational lens, astrophysicists managed to register in the very center of the Milky Way a massive object – either a huge planet, or a sub-object, a brown dwarf.

The new object was named OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb (briefly OGLE). It is 13 times more massive than Jupiter and revolves around the star in 22 thousand light-years from the Sun, in the densely populated by the stars of the region of the galactic center.

OGLE is not as massive as, for example, the record heavy brown dwarf DENIS-P J082303.1-491201 b, which weighs 29 times more than Jupiter. But even the thirteen-second advantage is already a lot. Because of the huge mass, it’s hard to say what OGLE is. The area of ​​his “residence” is full of brown dwarfs – unheard-of stars, who only had enough mass to start a thermonuclear reaction.

If it’s still a planet, then it’s very big. And if the brown dwarf, scientists will be very surprised, because brown dwarfs usually do not rotate around other stars – and OGLE rotates. In any case, this heavenly body stores more questions than answers.

The study will be published in the Astronomical Journal. The preprint is available in the arXiv.org repository.