In a first, NASA finds evidence of possible planet outside of Milky Way galaxy

The possible planet candidate is located in the spiral galaxy Messier 51 (M51), researchers estimates the exoplanet candidate would be roughly the size of Saturn.

New Delhi: The US space agency reported that for the first time it has spotted signs of a planet transiting a star outside of our Milky Way galaxy. NASA`s Chandra X-ray Observatory made the discovery thus opening up a new avenue to search for exoplanets at greater distances than considered earlier.

NASA in a statement said that the possible planet candidate is located in the spiral galaxy Messier 51 (M51), also called the Whirlpool Galaxy because of its distinctive profile. 

"We are trying to open up a whole new arena for finding other worlds by searching for planet candidates at X-ray wavelengths, a strategy that makes it possible to discover them in other galaxies," said Rosanne Di Stefano of the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard and Smithsonian (CfA) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who led the study.