This unprecedented discovery might just help us better understand the building blocks of the universe, starting from the very beginning following the Big Bang, scientists suspect that the universe solely consisted of lightweight elements like hydrogen, helium and even traces of lithium, meaning that Onley gashes planets could be formed in the early universe.

So it's no surprise that everyone's jaw literally hit the floor when scientists found a 10 billion year old star hosting a rocky planet.

The stars known as the creative name T O I 561 and the planet T O I.

561 b This star Planet pairing is a bit of an anomaly because the two are found in a region of the Milky Way, known as the thick disk.

With the help of data collected by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope.

Astronomers estimate the thick disks to be about 10 billion years old and in order to form a rocky planet, heavier elements like carbon, iron and even magnesium are needed.

Heavier elements weren't originally.

Thoughts were formed until the first stars did, which is roughly 200 million years after the Big Bang.

These metals are formed through fusion reactions in the hearts of stars, then expelled when a star dies in a supernova explosion Once released into the universe, the elements can then continue the great circle of life, at least from a start perspective.

All this to say that 10 billion years ago, the heavier elements needed for planet formation weren't really in abundance.

This newly found rocky planet also has a density that similar to Earth, which is actually really weird because a planet that old should have a higher density.

And to top it off, T O I 561 actually hosts at least two other planets that are gashes instead of rocking.

So while scientists are still unsure how the planet form, they're coming to the conclusion that the universe has been building planets almost since it was born.

The discovery was a combined effort by NASA's Test mission, an exoplanet hunting telescope that uses the transit method to collect data on planets, and a team of researchers at the W.

M.

Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

They identified the rocky planet as a super earth because it has a mass of more than 1.5 Earths and a radius that's roughly 1.4 times larger.

After the exoplanets original discovery by tests, the team that the Keck Observatory was able to measure the planet's mass using a customized instrument that collects information during the transit method.

Using the high resolution extra spectrometer or high res, astronomers can measure the wobble in a star using the planet's gravitational pull.

The team used this measurement to determine the mass of the planet, which then compared to other known planets, help them.

Classified is rocky, but apart from this super Earths mass radius in density, that's really where the close comparisons to Earth end.

Because its orbital period is less than 12 hours, it takes longer to cross the United States in a car.

This puts the exoplanet literally so close to its host star.

That is estimated surface temperature is more than 1226 degrees Celsius, which absolutely scorches any hopes of life.

And the interesting thing about this discovery is that we aren't hoping to find living organisms on the exit plane instead of T y 561 b provides a unique opportunity toe.

Understand the elements present during the very beginning of the universe, answering questions like, Where did the heavy elements needed to create T O I 561 b come from?

And what is the origin of the old stars and the galaxy thick disk?

This super Earth discovery suggests the possibility of other ancient rocky planets out there in the galaxy and could help scientists and astronomers better understand the building blocks of our universe.

If you want to learn more about Tessa's missions to search for exoplanets, check out Marin's video here.

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