Strange and hidden Jupiter-sized planet discovered by astronomers and citizen scientists
A team of astronomers and citizen scientists have discovered a hidden planet the size of Jupiter in a distant solar system, and they will soon have a chance to see it.
The planet, called TOI-2180 b, is relatively close to us on Earth, just 379 light-years away. But what makes this world so special among the known giant specimens exoplanets is that it takes a whopping 261 days to orbit its host star, much longer than most gas giants discovered outside our sun’s vicinity.
The team discovered the world using data collected by NASA’s Transiting Alien Survey Satellite, or TESS. TESS detects exoplanets by finding very small and repeatable depressions in a star’s luminosity caused by a planet blocking some of the star’s light as it transits or passes between the spacecraft cylinder and star. While the orbital period of TOI-2180 b has not been confirmed exactly, scientists predict that TESS will see the planet again in February.
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Lead author of the study Paul Dalba, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Riverside, said: “Transition events … are the best avenues for discovering colder alien planets ” (January 13).
Dalba describes it as “cool” not only because of how unique the exoplanet is, but also because of the lower temperatures caused by its longer-period orbit around its parent star. (The presentation is available in the video below, which starts around 34 minutes.)
“There’s a lot of scientific momentum,” behind studying long-orbit exoplanets, Dalba added. “We can ask questions like ‘Do planets in short and long orbits form differently or evolve differently? How have they changed over time?'”
TOI-2180 b is roughly the size of Jupiter. But it’s almost three times larger; The planet contains about 105 Earth masses of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, according to a release issued by University of New Mexico, held at the home of discovery team member Diana Dragomir. This difference in density could indicate that the planet was formed differently than Jupiter.
Another oddity is the planet’s temperature, which averages a surprisingly mild 170 degrees Fahrenheit (77 degrees Celsius). While TOI-2180 b is warmer than Jupiter and Saturn, it is still quite cold compared to many other giant exoplanets. (Many gas giant planets found so far are orbiting close to “Computer is hot, “are easier to find because they move more frequently and exert greater gravity on their host stars than planets orbiting further away.)
Dalba said in a NASA press release. This temperature difference is still not well understood, but can be further explored with observations from other observatories, such as NASA just launched. James Webb . Space Telescope, the investigators said.
The discovery was made by a unique team of astronomers and citizen scientists, including former US Navy officer Tom Jacobs. Jacobs is a participant in Planet Hunters, a NASA-funded citizen science project conducted through the now-retired data-centric Zooniverse online platform from NASA. Kepler Planet hunting spaceship.
“The discovery and publication of TOI-2180 b is a brilliant team effort that demonstrates that professional astronomers and seasoned scientists can,” Jacobs said in the same NASA statement. work together successfully”.
Together, the team of citizen scientists and astronomers examined the TESS data through a collaboration known as the Imaging Survey Team. Jacobs detected a drop in luminosity in the newly found planet’s parent star on February 1, 2020. Since fluctuations in stellar brightness could be caused by other factors such as sunspots, Jacobs needed to determine receive and notify astronomers Dalba and Dragomir.
TESS only saw a single blur of the star, but the team got more information from the Automated Planet Finder Telescope observations at the Lick Observatory in California, along with the WM Keck Observatory. in Hawaii. These two observatories witnessed the planet’s gravity “pull” on its parent star, allowing the team to study its mass.
However, the planet’s orbit remains uncertain. The team tried to find out by looking for the vehicle again with the telescope at 14 locations, on three continents, during August 2020.
While the collaboration produced 55 datasets over 11 days, none of the telescopes captured the transition. But this lack of information still allows astronomers to “put a boundary” on its orbital time, which they estimate is 261 days, NASA said.
The scientists also hope to further study TOI-2180 b to look for rings or moons, which are common in gas giants in our solar system. Most of the large exoplanets discovered are found very close to their parent stars, where strong gravity can rip things like belts out of planets. Because TOI-2810b is farther away from its star, it could be “an interesting system” for searching for moons or rings, Dalba said in a NASA statement.
ONE research based on research published Thursday (January 13) in the Astronomical Journal.
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https://www.space.com/hidden-exoplanet-discovery-tess-citizen-scientists Strange and hidden Jupiter-sized planet discovered by astronomers and citizen scientists
