Zooming in on the first planet of extragalactic origin

This zoom sequence starts with a wide-field view of the southern skies and gradually closes in on HIP 13044, a star that entered our galaxy, the Milky Way, from another galaxy. This star is orbited by a planet, HIP 13044 b, that is the first ever found around a star of extragalactic origin. The planet was detected by a European team of astronomers using the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. The Jupiter-like planet is particularly unusual, as it is orbiting a star nearing the end of its life and could be about to be engulfed by it, giving clues about the fate of our own planetary system in the distant future.