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LiveScience
LiveScience
Robert Lea

Real-life 'Star Trek' planet was actually just an illusion caused by a 'jittery' star

An illustration shows a Vulcan like planet HD 26965 b orbiting the star Keid. .

A planet beyond the solar system that has been compared to Spock's homeworld Vulcan in the Star Trek franchise may have been nothing more than an illusion caused by a jittery star. 

The extrasolar planet or "exoplanet" (a term for a planet outside of our solar system) was proposed to orbit a star called 40 Eridani A or "Keid," which is part of a triple star system located around 16.3 light-years from Earth. In Star Trek, this star is also home to the planet Vulcan. First announced in 2018, the planet caused quite a stir thanks to its similarities with Spock's fictional home planet.

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