Latest news with #TransitingExoplanetSurveySatellite
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Ginormous planet discovered around tiny red star challenges our understanding of solar systems
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Scientists have spotted a massive planet where one shouldn't be able to exist, according to leading theories of planet formation. A team of researchers discovered a giant planet, dubbed TOI-6894b, orbiting a low-mass red dwarf star about 241 light-years away from Earth. The findings, published June 4 in the journal Nature Astronomy, add another example to a growing list of space objects that challenge standard models of planet formation. "It's an intriguing discovery," study co-author Vincent Van Eylen, an astrophysicist at University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, said in a statement. "We don't really understand how a star with so little mass can form such a massive planet! This is one of the goals of the search for more exoplanets." For years, astronomers thought low-mass stars, less than roughly a third the mass of our sun, would not be able to accumulate enough material to form giant planets. But a few examples that defy these predictions have cropped up, and scientists are looking for others to help revise theories of planet formation. To seek out these planets, study co-author Edward Bryant, an astronomer at University College London, and colleagues turned to the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a NASA satellite launched in 2018. In a 2023 study, Bryant and colleagues spotted 15 potential giant planets, including TOI-6894b, orbiting low-mass stars. The team homed in on TOI-6894b and its star with additional observations from TESS and several ground-based telescopes. Combining this data, the researchers found that TOI-6894b has about 17% as much mass as Jupiter, or about 53 times as much mass as Earth. The planet's radius is slightly larger than Saturn's, and it orbits its star — which contains about 20% as much mass as the sun — in just 3 days. Related: Scientists have discovered a new dwarf planet in our solar system, far beyond the orbit of Neptune "We did not expect planets like TOI-6894b to be able to form around stars this low-mass," Bryant said in the statement. The red dwarf is the lowest-mass star discovered to host a giant planet so far. "This discovery will be a cornerstone for understanding the extremes of giant planet formation." Though reports of giant planets orbiting red dwarfs are still rare, the discovery suggests that there could be many more of these behemoths in the Milky Way. "Most stars in our galaxy are actually small stars exactly like this, with low masses and previously thought to not be able to host gas giant planets," study co-author Daniel Bayliss, an astrophysicist at the University of Warwick, said in the statement. "So, the fact that this star hosts a giant planet has big implications for the total number of giant planets we estimate exist in our galaxy." TOI-6894b and other giant planets orbiting low mass stars throw a wrench in the core accretion model, the most common theory of how giant planets form. Typically, a giant planet's core grows until it's massive enough to quickly pull in gas from the surrounding protoplanetary disk. But the protoplanetary disks around low mass stars weren't expected to contain enough material for this to occur. RELATED STORIES —What's the largest planet in the universe? —Jupiter is shrinking and used to be twice as big, mind-boggling study reveals —New class of exoplanet — half-rock, half-water — discovered orbiting red dwarf Instead, TOI-6894b could have slowly accumulated gas over time, or it might have formed from a gravitationally unstable protoplanetary disk that collapsed into a planet. Studying the distribution of material in the planet's atmosphere could offer some clues to how it formed, according to the scientists. "This system provides a new challenge for models of planet formation, and it offers a very interesting target for follow-up observations to characterize its atmosphere," said study co-author Andrés Jordán, an astrophysicist at Adolfo Ibáñez University. Researchers will use the James Webb Space Telescope to observe the planet's atmosphere within the next year.
India Today
23-04-2025
- Science
- India Today
New planet is breaking apart, losing material equal to a Mount Everest per orbit
Astronomers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered a new planet crumbling into pieces. The planet is losing material equal to one Mount Everest every time it completes an 140 light-years from Earth, the disintegrating world is about the mass of Mercury, although it circles about 20 times closer to its star than Mercury does to the sun, completing an orbit every 30.5 5,800 planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, have been discovered since the 1990s. Of those, only four have been observed disintegrating in orbit, as this one is. This planet is the closest to our solar system of the four, giving scientists a unique opportunity to learn about what happens to these doomed astronomers spotted the planet using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an MIT-led mission that monitors the nearest stars for transits, or periodic dips in starlight that could be signs of orbiting exoplanets. The disintegrating world is about the mass of Mercury. (Photo: Nasa) Its host star, a type called an orange dwarf, is smaller, cooler and dimmer than the sun, with about 70% of the sun's mass and diameter and about 20% of its luminosity. The planet orbits this star every 30.5 hours at a distance about 20 times closer than Mercury is to the planet's surface temperature is estimated at close to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1,600 degrees Celsius) thanks to its close proximity to its star. As a result, the planet's surface has probably been turned to magma - molten scientists confirmed that the signal is of a tightly orbiting rocky planet that is trailing a long, comet-like tail of debris.'The extent of the tail is gargantuan, stretching up to nine million kilometers long, or roughly half of the planet's entire orbit,' says Marc Hon, a postdoc in MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space added that the planet is disintegrating at a dramatic rate, shedding an amount of material equivalent to one Mount Everest each time it orbits its star. At this pace, given its small mass, the researchers predict that the planet may completely disintegrate in about 1 million to 2 million years.'We got lucky with catching it exactly when it's really going away. It's like on its last breath,' Avi Shporer, a collaborator on the discovery Reel
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘On its last breath': MIT astronomers discover disintegrating planet
Massachusetts Institute of Technology astronomers have discovered a planet roughly 140 light-years from Earth — but it's quickly disintegrating. The planet, which scientists have tagged as BD+05 4868 Ab, is located so close to the sun that it completes a full orbit every 30.5 hours, according to MIT News. As a result, it's likely covered in magma, causing the planet to evaporate and shed the equivalent of one Mount Everest's worth of surface materials during every orbit. The astronomers estimate the planet may disintegrate fully within the next 1 to 2 million years. Debris trails behind the planet in a comet-like fashion, which is how the astronomers first detected it with NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). 'We got lucky with catching it exactly when it's really going away,' Avi Shporer, a collaborator on the discovery who is also at the TESS Science Office, told MIT News. 'It's like, on its last breath.' The recent discovery is a rare find for astronomers. Among the 6,000 planets identified thus far, only three of them are disintegrating planets beyond our solar system — and BD+05 4868 Ab has a longer tail than all of them. Marc Hon, a postdoc in MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research in Cambridge, describes the planet's tail as 'gargantuan' and told MIT News it's up to 9 million kilometers long. That's about half of the planet's orbit around the sun. However, the astronomers estimate the planet has a low mass and low gravity, which is contributing to its quick disintegration. 'This is a very tiny object, with very weak gravity, so it easily loses a lot of mass, which then further weakens its gravity, so it loses even more mass,' Shporer told MIT News. 'It's a runaway process, and it's only getting worse and worse for the planet.' Hon and graduate student Nicholas Tusay from Penn State University will continue to study BD+05 4868 Ab this summer with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, according to MIT News. The special telescope can help astronomers learn about the mineral makeup of the planet's dust trail by identifying which colors of infrared light it absorbs. 'This will be a unique opportunity to directly measure the interior composition of a rocky planet, which may tell us a lot about the diversity and potential habitability of terrestrial planets outside our solar system,' Hon said. Payton Pritchard winning NBA award shows Boston Celtics' culture at work FBI analyst calls Hadley man's small stash of plutonium 'not that big of a deal' Zack Kelly optioned to Worcester; here's what Red Sox want to see improve Worcester Mayor Petty kicks off campaign, pledges to replace old school buildings Chicago Schools leader Pedro Martinez selected for top education post in Mass. Read the original article on MassLive.
Straits Times
22-04-2025
- Science
- Straits Times
Planet with comet-like tail observed disintegrating near its star
Disintegrating planet BD+05 4868 Ab orbits a sun-like star 140 light years away from Earth and is being vaporised by stellar heat. PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON - Astronomers have spotted a small rocky planet that orbits perilously close to its host star disintegrating as its surface is vaporised by stellar heat, trailed by a comet-like tail of mineral dust up to about 9 million km long. About 5,800 planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, have been discovered since the 1990s. Of those, only four have been observed disintegrating in orbit, as this one is. This planet is the closest to our solar system of the four, giving scientists a unique opportunity to learn about what happens to these doomed worlds. The researchers observed the planet, named BD+05 4868 Ab, as it gradually crumbles into dust, shedding material roughly equal to the mass of Mount Everest with each orbit of its star. The tail of dust trailing the planet wraps halfway around the star. The planet is estimated as between the size of our solar system's smallest and innermost planet Mercury and Earth's moon. It is located about 140 light years away from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 9.5 trillion km. Its host star, a type called an orange dwarf, is smaller, cooler and dimmer than the sun, with about 70 per cent of the sun's mass and diameter and about 20 per cent of its luminosity. The planet orbits this star every 30.5 hours at a distance about 20 times closer than Mercury is to the sun. The planet's surface temperature is estimated at about 1,600 deg C, thanks to its close proximity to its star. As a result, the planet's surface has probably been turned to magma - molten rock. 'We expect the planet to disintegrate into dust within the next million years or so,' said Assistant Professor Marc Hon, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research and lead author of the study published on April 22 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. 'This is catastrophically quick in cosmic timescales. The disintegration is a runaway process. As more material from the planet turns into dust, the disintegration process gets faster,' Prof Hon said. Once in space, the vaporised material cools down to form mineral dust that streams away from the planet. 'We know the dust grains in the tail can have sizes between large soot particles and fine grains of sand,' Hon said. 'We don't know the mineral composition of the tail yet.' The researchers detected BD+05 4868 Ab using the 'transit method,' observing a dip in the host star's brightness when the planet passes in front of it, from the perspective of a viewer on Earth. It was found using Nasa's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or Tess, space telescope. How the planet came to have its current close-in orbit is unclear. 'The planet's orbit is not seen to be visibly decaying from the data. It is possible that the planet initially formed farther away, and had its original orbit altered under the influence of an external body, such that the planet was sent much closer to the star,' Prof Hon said. This could have resulted from the gravitational influence of another planet or some other celestial object. The researchers plan further observations in the coming months using Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope to study the composition of the material in the tail, which could give clues about the makeup of rocky exoplanets. The search for life in other solar systems focuses on rocky exoplanets orbiting stars in the 'habitable zone,' a distance where liquid water, a key ingredient for life, can exist on a planetary surface. 'The tail is expected to contain minerals evaporated from the surface or interior of the disintegrating planet. So, this could be the crust, mantle or even the planet's core. Learning about the interiors of planets is extremely challenging. Doing this even for planets within our solar system is difficult. But BD+05 4868 Ab will allow us to directly measure the mineral composition of a terrestrial planet outside our solar system,' Prof Hon said. 'This is definitely an exceptional opportunity for exoplanet geology and to understand the diversity and potential habitability of rocky worlds beyond our solar system,' Prof Hon said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Exoplanet with two ‘suns' is even more unique than Tatooine
The image of Luke Skywalker gazing wistfully across the desert of Tatooine while a pair of 'suns' set on the horizon is among of the most famous scenes in pop culture. When Star Wars debuted in 1977, astronomers had yet to confirm an exoplanet with the same orbital path as Skywalker's home world. It would take another 16 years before experts located an actual circumbinary planet in 1993. Still, only 15 examples have been located to date—but researchers now have strong evidence suggesting another should be added to the list. What's more, it's one of the most unique binary systems ever observed. The evidence was published on April 16 in the journal Science Advances. When you imagine a stellar system and its orbiting planets, chances are it largely resembles our own solar system. In actuality, our cosmic neighborhood is actually a comparatively rare sight. Of the nearly 6,000 exoplanets documented so far, more than 75 percent exist in stellar orbits radically different from our own. One of the rarest variations is a binary system, in which the path of a planet revolves around two stars. However, the exoplanet 2M1510's binary system includes a slightly different pairing: brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are cosmic oddballs—while too large to classify as planets, they're also too small to truly meet the definition of a star. But at 13 to 80 times the mass of Jupiter, they exhibit more than enough gravitational pull to draw objects into orbit. 2M1510 is one such object. However, in this case, there are two brown dwarfs involved here. The result, according to researchers, is an exoplanet that 'eccentrically orbits' the pair. To confirm the rarely detected space oddity, astronomers utilized radial velocity calculations to examine data previously collected by NASA's Kepler space telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), as well as the European Space Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT). This combination of tools and analyses allowed astronomers to bypass a longstanding physic issue called the three-body problem. This conundrum makes it extremely difficult to assess gravitational behavior between three objects interacting in space. The resulting evidence strongly suggests 2M1510 orbits at a 90-degree polar angle, and moves perpendicular to the dwarfs' orbits in a never-before-seen way. Adding to its uniqueness, the brown dwarfs are eclipsing, meaning that one of them is always partially obscured when seen from Earth. This also makes it only the second eclipsing brown dwarf binary system ever documented. 'A planet orbiting not just a binary, but a binary brown dwarf, as well as being on a polar orbit is rather incredible and exciting,' Amaury Triaud, a study co-author and professor at the University of Birmingham, said in a statement. According to an accompanying Science Advances 'Focus' feature, the system also 'provides strong, if indirect, evidence for the existence of one of the most exotic types of exoplanetary systems yet found.' But as rare a find as it is, it's possible that 2M1510 once had an even more surreal skyscape. That's because they aren't only two brown dwarfs in the cosmic neighborhood. A third, more distant brown dwarf is located at the system's periphery. According to the study's authors, this hints at a time when a trio of brown dwarfs occupied the system's center before the gravitational forces pushed it out of the unit. At this point, however, only time will tell if a three-star planet makes it into a Star Wars film.
