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We now know how to locate planets circling extinct stars.

There are continuing celestial processes in the universe that are occasionally unfathomable to us and our science. As science advances, new methods are created and something previously unknown is revealed.

We now know how to determine whether planets are spinning around dead binary stars, thanks to the research done in a university in Mexico. The principal author of this study is Dr. Carlos Chavez from Mexico’s Universidad Autónoma De Nuevo León.

Cataclysmic Variables (CVs), a class of binary stars that are so close to one another that the larger star absorbs material from the smaller one as they spin around one another, were the subject of this study.

CVs often have a bigger star (primary) that is a white dwarf and a smaller star (donor) that is a red dwarf. The donor star provides material to the primary star.

The term ‘accretion disc’ refers to the hot disc that forms as the material is pulled, around the stars.
There is a gravitational equilibrium point in such a binary star system. The Lagrangian Point is where this is.

The Lagrangian Point oscillates if a planet is present in this star system. The star system’s brightness is subsequently affected by this. According to researchers, it is possible to tell whether or not a planet is there by spotting fluctuations in luminance.

The research has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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