Scientists May Have Solved , Mystery of How a Planet, Survived Stellar Cataclysm .<br />BBC reports that scientists believe they finally <br />understand how a planet that should have been <br />destroyed was able to mysteriously survive. .<br />8 Ursae Minoris b was first identified in 2015, <br />but the planet was believed to be unobservable, <br />as it should have been engulfed by a nearby dying star. .<br />According to a team of researchers, 8 Ursae Minoris b <br />may have escaped its fate due to the dying star having <br />an unseen companion that prevented its growth.<br />According to a team of researchers, 8 Ursae Minoris b <br />may have escaped its fate due to the dying star having <br />an unseen companion that prevented its growth.<br />No planetary system like this <br />has been discovered before. <br />This is the first, which is pretty special, Dimitri Veras, astrophysicist at the University of Warwick .<br />The idea of a binary star merger <br />came from effectively <br />piecing together a puzzle, Marc Hon, lead researcher from the University of Hawaii, via BBC.<br />Researchers believe that the surviving <br />planet once orbited two stars at <br />different stages of their stellar lives.<br />One was a hydrogen-burning red giant, while <br />the other was a helium-burning white dwarf.<br />Researchers think that the red giant's helium core was <br />ignited when it consumed its companion star, which <br />brought its vigorous expansion to a premature halt.<br />Most stars are in binary systems, <br />but we don't yet fully grasp how <br />planets may form around them, Marc Hon, lead researcher from the University of Hawaii, via BBC.<br />It is plausible that many more peculiar <br />planetary systems may exist due to <br />the influence of binary companions, Marc Hon, lead researcher from the University of Hawaii, via BBC
