Meet Wolf Cukier, the 17-year-old who discovered a planet with two Suns just 3 days into his NASA internship

Space discoveries can take years of scientific research, but sometimes a sudden discovery starts with a careful look at details.Wolf Cukier, a 17-year-old student from New York, was just three days into a summer internship at NASA when he discovered something remarkable about planets that orbit two stars.

Cukier had seen a signal from a distant star system that initially appeared to be a star eclipse.Further analysis found it was a planet orbiting two stars, a major discovery for NASA’s planet-hunting mission.

How Wolf Cukier found the planet

Following his junior year at Scarsdale High School in New York State, Cukier was a summer intern at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.


His job was to analyze data gathered by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).The project had him examine the variations in brightness of distant star systems, which can be a clue as to the presence of planets.

As per NASA, Cukier was reviewing signals that volunteers had flagged as possible eclipsing binaries. These are systems in which two stars orbit each other and periodically pass in front of one another from the observer's perspective.

During this work, he found an unusual signal from a system called TOI 1338.

The observation was subsequently examined over many weeks by Cukier and other scientists. Their analysis confirmed the discovery of a planet orbiting two stars.

What is TOI 1338 b?

NASA named the newly identified planet TOI 1338 b. As per the agency, it was the first circumbinary planet found by its TESS mission.

A circumbinary planet is a planet that orbits two stars instead of one. This makes TOI 1338 b different from Earth, which orbits one star, the Sun.

NASA reported that TOI 1338 b is around 6.9 times larger than Earth. The planet is situated about 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Pictor.

The discovery illustrated how studying variations in starlight can help researchers find planets beyond our solar system.

Why the discovery initially looked like a stellar eclipse

Cukier's task was to analyze data showing changes in the brightness of stars. In a system which has two stars, one star can pass in front of the other, generating a recurring dip in brightness called an eclipse.

A planet passing in front of a star can also result in a reduction in observed brightness. Distinguishing between these events requires scientists to analyze the timing and pattern of the signals.

NASA's analysis found the object as a circumbinary planet and confirmed that it was the first such discovery for the TESS mission.

A planet with two suns

The presence of two stars also inspired comparisons with the fictional planet Tatooine from Star Wars, the home of Luke Skywalker.

Cukier, a Star Wars fan, stated that the view from TOI 1338 b would resemble the science-fiction setting, with two stars in its sky.

The comparison helped demonstrate what makes planets orbiting two stars especially interesting: their stellar systems differ from the single-star arrangement familiar to people on Earth.

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What comes next for Wolf Cukier?

Cukier's discovery attracted attention because he found the signal only a few days into his internship, while still a high school student.

He completed the internship at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center after finishing his junior year at Scarsdale High School. In an interview with the BBC, he stated that he hoped to attend college and study physics and astrophysics.

“From there, a career in space research is appealing,” he mentioned.

His discovery of TOI 1338 b emphasized the role that careful examination of astronomical data can play in identifying distant worlds. It also provided an example of how a student working on a research project could contribute to a finding of importance for a major space mission.

Source: Business Insider and KTUL