Latest news with #TESS
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mirror
'Rare' planet like Jupiter discovered 400 light years away
The discovered gaseous planet, named TOI-4465 b, is located around 400 light-years from Earth and is around the same size as Jupiter, but with a much smaller orbit A planet has been spotted roughly 400 light years away from Earth. Dubbed TOI-4465 b, this colossal, gas-filled world bears striking similarities to Jupiter. The breakthrough came courtesy of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission alongside Unistellar's network of amateur astronomers. Franck Marchis, a Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute and Chief Scientific Officer at Unistellar, explained: "This planet is scientifically significant because it helps bridge a gap in our understanding of planetary systems. "So far, we mostly detect hot Jupiters orbiting very close to their stars, unlike the cold gas giants in our own solar system", reports the Express. "TOI-4465 b falls somewhere in between - a 'temperate' Jupiter, offering a valuable case study of gas giants that bridge the gap between the most prolific gas giants and those in our solar neighbourhood." TOI-4465 b stands out as an unusual specimen - a massive, compact world that completes its stellar orbit every 102 days. Being a long-period exoplanet made confirming its presence exceptionally challenging, as spotting another transit was highly unlikely. A long-period giant refers to a substantial planet, similar to Jupiter, which requires considerable time to circle its host star. Research leader and University of Mexico scientist Zahra Essack noted: "This discovery is important because long-period exoplanets, defined as having orbital periods longer than 100 days, are difficult to detect and confirm due to limited observational opportunities and resources. "As a result, they are underrepresented in our current catalogue of exoplanets. Studying these long-period planets gives us insights into how planetary systems form and evolve under more moderate conditions." A global team of 24 observers from the UK, US, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Austria contributed data, with 21 being amateur stargazers. The elusive transit signature of the planet was detected just once in TESS observations. A transit signature is the slight dimming of a star caused by a planet crossing in front of it, hinting at the presence of an orbiting planet. Prompted by TOI-4465 b's transit signature, the study's lead researcher collected radial velocity measurements to determine the star's motion towards or away from Earth, often influenced by the gravitational pull of a planet. Armed with this information, they forecasted the next transit event and alerted astronomers at the SETI Institute. Guided by SETI experts, Unistellar's network of citizen astronomers successfully recorded what has been termed a "long and challenging" transit. Despite the transit enduring around 12 hours, the international scope of the network allowed for coordinated observation throughout the entire occurrence. Given the uncertainty surrounding the precise timing of the planet's journey across its star, astronomers kept watch over a span of three days. Mr Marchis revealed: "TOI-4465 b is the most massive, long-period giant to transit a sub-solar metallicity star." This refers to a star with fewer elements other than hydrogen and helium when compared to our sun. He continued: "It's a great candidate for follow-up observations of its atmosphere, so there's a good chance JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) will be looking at this planet at some point in the future." Mr Marchis highlighted that individuals with a digital smart telescope can now spot and confirm exoplanets from their own gardens, aiding NASA in charting planetary systems identified by the TESS mission. He added: "The likelihood of TESS observing another transit of a planet like TOI-4465 b, which happens only every 102 days, is low. So the SETI-Unistellar network is essential for these discoveries."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Bad news for alien life? Earth-size planets may be less common than we thought
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. As many as 200 worlds beyond our solar system discovered by astronomers may be larger than estimated, which could influence the search for extraterrestrial life. That's the theory of a team of researchers who looked at hundreds of extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, observed by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). TESS hunts exoplanets by catching them as they cross the face of, or "transit," their parent star, which causes a tiny drop in light from that star. The study team discovered that light from stars neighboring the one being transited could "contaminate" TESS' data, making it look like the transiting planet is blocking less light than it actually is. And that would make the planet look smaller than it is. "We found that hundreds of exoplanets are larger than they appear, and that shifts our understanding of exoplanets on a large scale," University of California, Irvine researcher and team leader Te Han said in a statement. "This means we may have actually found fewer Earth-like planets so far than we thought." Exoplanets throw shade Exoplanets are so distant and faint that it is only on rare occasions that astronomers can image them directly. That means the transit method has become the most successful way of detecting worlds beyond the solar system. It requires the planet and its star to be at the right angle in relation to Earth, and for astronomers to wait for the planet to make two transits to confirm its existence. The transit method is best at spotting short-period planets orbiting close to their host stars, because they make more frequent transits. The method also favors larger planets, which block more light. "We're basically measuring the shadow of the planet," said team member and UC Irvine astronomer Paul Robertson. The team gathered hundreds of TESS observations of exoplanets, sorting them by the width of the exoplanets in question. They then used computer modeling and data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) star-tracking mission Gaia to estimate how much light contamination TESS is experiencing during its observations. "TESS data are contaminated, which Te's custom model corrects better than anyone else in the field," said Robertson. "What we find in this study is that these planets may systematically be larger than we initially thought. It raises the question: Just how common are Earth-sized planets?" Move over Earth-like worlds: ocean planets could be more common Because of the biases of the transit method mentioned above, the number of exoplanets detected with TESS having sizes and compositions similar to those of Earth was already low. "Of the single-planet systems discovered by TESS so far, only three were thought to be similar to Earth in their composition," Han explained. "With this new finding, all of them are actually bigger than we thought." The likely outcome of this is that those exoplanets are larger ocean planets or "hycean worlds" covered by a large single ocean. Those worlds could also be gas giants smaller than Jupiter, like Neptune and Uranus. That impacts the search for life because, though hycean worlds are packed with water, they could be lacking other ingredients needed for life to arise. "This has important implications for our understanding of exoplanets, including, among other things, prioritization for follow-up observations with the James Webb Space Telescope, and the controversial existence of a galactic population of water worlds," Roberston added. Related Stories: — The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered its 1st exoplanet and snapped its picture (image) — Astronomers discover origins of mysterious double hot Jupiter exoplanets: 'It is a dance of sorts' — NASA exoplanet-hunting spacecraft and citizen scientists discover a cool new alien world The next step for Han, Roberston, and colleagues is to re-examine planets previously deemed uninhabitable due to their size, to see if they are larger than previously thought. In the meantime, the research is a reminder to astronomers to be cautious when assessing TESS data. The team's research was published on Monday (July 14) in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Solve the daily Crossword
Sharjah 24
4 days ago
- Science
- Sharjah 24
NASA discovers 'super Earth' planet emitting mysterious signal
The planet, named TOI-1846 b, is almost twice the size of Earth and four times as massive. It orbits a small, cool red dwarf star every four days and causes a strange, repeated dip in the star's light, a signal that first caught scientists' attention when NASA's TESS space telescope observed the dimming pattern in March of each year. Now confirmed by a team of scientists using both space and ground-based telescopes, TOI-1846 b falls into the so-called 'radius gap,' a rare category between small, rocky planets like Earth and larger, gas-rich planets like Neptune. Despite an estimated surface temperature of 600°F, researchers say the planet may still hold water. It's believed to have a solid rocky core, a dense ice layer, and potentially even a shallow ocean or thin atmosphere. The host star is a "red dwarf," approximately 40 percent smaller in size and mass than the Sun. NASA scientists hope that the James Webb Space Telescope will soon target TOI-1846 b to study its atmosphere using infrared light. Under favourable conditions, Webb will be able to detect signs of water vapour, methane, carbon dioxide, or other gases.
Emirates 24/7
4 days ago
- Science
- Emirates 24/7
NASA discovers 'super Earth' planet emitting mysterious signal
NASA has discovered a mysterious 'super-Earth' planet that appears to flash a repeated signal from 154 light-years away. The planet, named TOI-1846 b, is almost twice the size of Earth and four times as massive. It orbits a small, cool red dwarf star every four days and causes a strange, repeated dip in the star's light, a signal that first caught scientists' attention when NASA's TESS space telescope observed the dimming pattern in March of each year. Now confirmed by a team of scientists using both space and ground-based telescopes, TOI-1846 b falls into the so-called 'radius gap,' a rare category between small, rocky planets like Earth and larger, gas-rich planets like Neptune. Despite an estimated surface temperature of 600°F, researchers say the planet may still hold water. It's believed to have a solid rocky core, a dense ice layer, and potentially even a shallow ocean or thin atmosphere. The host star is a "red dwarf," approximately 40 percent smaller in size and mass than the Sun. NASA scientists hope that the James Webb Space Telescope will soon target TOI-1846 b to study its atmosphere using infrared light. Under favourable conditions, Webb will be able to detect signs of water vapour, methane, carbon dioxide, or other gases. Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
Metro
5 days ago
- Science
- Metro
'Super-Earth' sending out strange signal over 145 light years discovered
Scientists have discovered a 'super-Earth' awash with oceans on one side and baked on the other after it flashed a repeated signal. The exoplanet, TOI-1846 b, is almost two times larger and four times heavier than Earth, and a year is only four Earth days. TOI-1846 b is 154 light years away – to put that into perspective, it would take a car driving at 60mph about 2billion years to get there. The alien world orbits a dim, reddish ball of gas called a red dwarf star in the northern constellation Lyra. Scientists discovered it after tracing back a flickering light recorded by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite in March. By pointing both space and ground-based telescopes up at the signal, researchers realised it was a planet blotting out a few hundredths of a percent of the light of its star as it orbited past. The team wrote in a recently published paper TOI-1846 b falls into the so-called 'radius gap' – not quite a rocky planet, not quite a gas giant. TOI-1846 b probably has a layer of dense ice underneath and is awash in oceans of water, topped by a thin atmosphere. It would be about 295°C on the planet's surface, as only one side of it is ever facing its sun. Abderahmane Soubkiou, lead researcher at Oukaimeden Observatory in Morocco, said: 'We have validated TOI-1846 b using TESS and multicolour ground-based photometric data, high-resolution imaging, and spectroscopic observations.' But while that sounds like a lot, more tests and observations are needed to figure out the planet's atmosphere and composition. There's only a slim chance that life could be wriggling around the planet's oceans given the blistering temperatures. But its host star, TOI-1846, makes the chances of this not too bad elsewhere. Compared to our Sun, the 7.2billion years old TOI-1846 is tiny – just 0.4 times the size of our neighbourhood star and is only TOI-1846. Red dwarfs are the most common type of star and, as they're cooler, their habitable zones are far closer to them. This means planetary systems that fall in these zones are far easier to spot. For now, scientists will keep looking at the star to see if any other planets are drifting around it – ones further out could more safely have water. To determine if aliens are calling any planets around TOI-1846 home, for example, scientists will now need to conduct radial velocity (RV) observations, looking at how the planet and its star wobble. This method, called transit timing, has been used to confirm more than 630 exoplanets so far across 7,600 transit events witnessed by TESS. Astronomers had long suspected that other planets like the ones whizzing around our Sun exist, but struggled to spot them. Now they have confirmed nearly 5,300, according to the Open Exoplanet Catalog. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Two black holes just smashed together into something 225 times the mass of our Sun MORE: A mysterious, ancient '12-mile wide interstellar visitor' is racing towards us MORE: The Simpsons predict the future – again – after scientists plan artificial solar eclipse
