【Bazaar】

For the first time,Bazaar scientists found evidence of a rocky planetary system surrounding a double sun.

Yes, like Luke Skywalker's home in Star Wars.

While many of these double star systems -- often referred to as "Tatooine-like" -- have been found before, this marks the first time scientists have found evidence of rocky planetary material in one.

SEE ALSO: Seven Earth-sized planets orbit an alien star only 40 light-years away

The star system, which is located about 1,000 light-years from Earth and named SDSS 1557, is composed of a white dwarf star and a brown dwarf -- an object too small to be considered a full-fledged star, but too large to be a planet.

Those two bodies are orbited by what appears to be rocky material that might be a group of asteroids that have broken apart.

This suggests that maybe, just maybe, a real-life Tatooine-like exoplanet is lurking out there somewhere, though they haven't found any rocky worlds in this system yet.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"Building rocky planets around two suns is a challenge because the gravity of both stars can push and pull tremendously, preventing bits of rock and dust from sticking together and growing into full-fledged planets," Jay Farihi, co-author of the study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, said in a statement.

"With the discovery of asteroid debris in the SDSS 1557 system, we see clear signatures of rocky planet assembly via large asteroids that formed, helping us understand how rocky exoplanets are made in double star systems."

The scientists behind the discovery didn't actually know that SDSS 1557 was a binary system at first.

They only found the brown dwarf companion to the white dwarf after looking at the system with different instruments.

Via Giphy

"The brown dwarf was effectively hidden by the dust until we looked with the right instrument, but when we observed SDSS 1557 in detail we recognised the brown dwarf's subtle gravitational pull on the white dwarf," study co-author Steven Parsons said in the statement.

The researchers also found that the white dwarf's atmosphere is actually polluted by rocky, metal-rich material falling into the star from the surrounding system.

Until now, all of the planets found in these types of systems have been gas giants like Jupiter, so actually finding evidence of rocky material close to a host star is pretty cool indeed.

---

Featured Video For You

---

NASA’s Kepler telescope finds potentially Earth-like world

---

• Life
• Games
• Deals
• Tech
• Entertainment
• Shopping
• Science
• Digital Culture

• The Baffler’s May Day Round Up
• 'A Wrinkle in Time' will be free for underprivileged children at select theaters
• Crossfire is the most epic '90s game you never played
• You can now explore a magical 'Harry Potter' exhibit on Google Arts & Culture app
• The internet is talking like Kevin from 'The Office' now
• Why the UK has set up a separate fund to further the Time's Up movement
• 'Black Panther' is already starting to eclipse 'The Avengers' at the box office
• Hands on with the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+
• The best day to book your flight, according to Google
• I bet you can't guess where the Huawei MateBook X Pro hides its camera

• Panthers vs. Giants 2024 livestream: How to watch NFL games online
• Angers vs. PSG 2024 livestream: Watch Ligue 1 for free
• Best Black Friday laptop deal: Save $300 on HP Envy 2
• Best free web development courses
• Google Gemini app may be coming to iPhone soon — here's what we know
• Best Google Pixel deal: Save $154 on the Google Pixel 9
• Mississippi State vs. Tennessee football livestreams: kickoff time, streaming deals, and more
• Apple's new iPhone update is locking law enforcement out of phones
• Best Early Black Friday Google deal: Save $300 on the Pixel 8
• When will SpaceX Starship launch again? Here's what we know.

• Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now is a Bad Idea, Part 1: Expensive DDR4 Memory
• Hey Nokia, stop ruining our memories
• Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+: New smartphone photos leaked
• Single? Just make a wine box boyfriend like this guy
• NYT Strands hints, answers for April 14
• Scary footage shows woman plunging into frozen lake to rescue stranded dog
• Disney donating $1 million to STEM programs following 'Black Panther' success
• Three adorable sisters recreate 2018 Oscars Best Picture nominees
• Ryzen 5 1600X vs. 1600: Which should you buy?
• Little girl screaming when her doll's head pops off makes for a great photo

• U.N. confirms the ocean is screwed
• 'A Wrinkle in Time' social media silence speaks volumes
• Coal baron's defamation lawsuit against John Oliver has been dismissed
• Winter Olympic Google Doodles, ranked
• Time to Unite
• What's coming to (and going from) Netflix in March
• It's farewell to iTunes on old Apple TVs, Window PCs
• SanDisk unveils world's fastest microSD card with 400GB of storage
• Diseases from mosquitos and ticks have tripled in the U.S., CDC finds
• Chinese phone makers are building the all