For the first time, astronomers have discovered an ice giant exoplanet. This exoplanet in a solar system 25,000 light years away from Earth closely resembles Uranus.

Ice giants such as Uranus and Neptune consist mostly of helium and hydrogen and are shrouded by massive amounts of methane ice that make the planets appear blue in color.

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Scientists can't determine if this exoplanet also possess a blue hue. There is confirmation, however, this exoplanet is indeed an ice giant since its orbital location around its sun is almost identical to that of Uranus.

Another remarkable attribute of this ice giant exoplanet is that it's located in a binary star system. The exoplanet's orbit is being disturbed or jostled by a second star that pulls on it from a different direction. This jostling might have contributed to the formation of the exoplanet.

This exoplanet probably holds the key to explaining mysteries about Uranus and Neptune.

It's still unclear why Uranus and Neptune are located on the outskirts of the solar system since they seem to have formed closer to the Sun, according to some theories.

A probable theory of why Uranus and Neptune are where they are today is they were jostled by bigger planets around them, Jupiter and Saturn. This jostling flung Uranus and Neptune into their present orbits.

This ice giant exoplanet, however is four times denser than Uranus and its location from its sun is similar to Uranus' distance from the Sun.

This exoplanet was discovered by gravitational microlensing, a phenomenon where gravitational forces bend light between objects, thereby magnifying objects far away. The Warsaw Telescope in Chile detected and observed this microlensing event that magnified light 25,000 light years from Earth.

Microlensing allows astronomers and scientists to detect immensely distant worlds and gather information such as a planet's mass and composition, along with its orbital location from its star.

TagsNew Uranus Ice Giant Exoplanet Found by Astronomers 25, 000 Light Years Away, Uranus, Neptune, ice giant, new planet uranus ice giant