Astronomers 85 possible The planets They have found where the presence of space creatures can be.
The discoverers of these planets – not yet confirmed – Scientists It is believed that the temperature in them could be cold enough for life to thrive there.
These planets are similar in size to Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. They were spotted by NASA’s Transitioning Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS.
With TESS, scientists can observe dimming of stars, called transits, caused by objects passing in front of them.
Typically, discovering an exoplanet like this requires watching at least three transits, to determine how long it takes them to orbit their star.
However, in the new study, the researchers examined systems that have undergone only two transits, resulting in planets with longer orbits, making it possible to discover exoplanets at cooler temperatures.
The 85 planets take 20 to 700 days to orbit their host stars, while most of the exoplanets observed by TESS have orbital periods of 3–10 days.
Some planets are far enough from their host stars that the temperatures may be just right for life to thrive, researchers say. This is known as the ‘habitable zone’.
At this stage, these bodies still need to be confirmed as exoplanets, but researchers hope that future observations will do so.
Of the 85 possible planets, 60 are new discoveries while 25 have been detected by independent research teams using different techniques in the TESS data.
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According to PhD researcher Faith Hawthorne of the University of Warwick: ‘We used the initial algorithm to search for transits on a sample of 1.4 million stars.
‘After a rigorous vetting process we narrowed it down to only 85 systems that have only two transiting exoplanets in the data set.’
Professor Daniel Bayless, who was involved in the research, said: ‘It is very exciting to find these planets and to know that many of them may be in the right temperature zone for life to thrive.’
He added: ‘Adding to the shared spirit of the TESS mission, we have also made our discoveries public so that astronomers around the world can study these unique planets in more detail. We hope this will lead to further research on these fascinating planets.’
Dr Sam Gill, second author of the study, said: ‘Detecting exoplanets from just two transits is a smart way to detect long-duration exoplanets in transit surveys.
‘This allows us to find planets that are much cooler than conventional transit searches.’
The joint research paper, led by Hawthorne at the University of Warwick and involving people from different countries, was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) on Wednesday.
Additional Reporting: Agencies
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2024-08-18 06:00:51
