Consecutively found 2 other super-Earths, including 1 in the “Golden Zone of Life”!

ƬAccording to the latest space news published on New York Post (USA), an international team of astronomers has discovered two new super-Earths orbiting a super cool dwarf star just 100 light years from Earth.

Found 2 super-Earths near the solar system: “Golden zone for life”

These are two exoplanets that have been identified by the scientific community, one of which could have the necessary conditions for the development of life, that is, it is inside “habitable zone” (or Goldilocks zone).

The two exoplanets are respectively named LP 890-9b And LP 890-9cwas discovered at a fairly close distance from us – only 100 light yearsand they turn around The host launch is called LP 890-9.

The two exoplanets are named LP 890-9b and LP 890-9c respectively.

The two exoplanets are respectively named LƤ 890-9b and LP 890-9c.

Building on previous findings from a space telescope called NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), researchers from the University of Birmingham in the UK used SPECULOOS telescope. their – represents the expression “Project Search Telescope for Habitable Planets Eclipsing Super Cool Stars (SPECULOOS)” – to confirm the habitability of these two exoplanets.

As a result, astronomers have important preliminary information about the two super-Earths as follows:

• The closest exoplanet to its host star is LP 890-9b, which isIt is about 30% cooler than Earth and orbits the dwarf star rapidly in just 2.7 Earth days. Its orbit passes just 2.8 million kilometers from the red dwarf. According to scientists, it receives 4.1 times more heat and light from its star than Earth.
• The second exoplanet, known as LP 890-9c, slightly larger than LP 890-9b, and about 40% larger than our Earth; Its orbit passes at a distance of 6 million km from the host star. LP 890-9c completes its orbit in approximately 8.5 Earth days.

Astronomers believe this second planet (LP 890-9c) is in the “habitable zone” of its host star, where it is neither too hot nor too cold to support the existence of liquid water on the surface.

According to astronomers, the daytime hemisphere of LP 890-9c receives about 90% of the heat and light that our planet receives from the Sun. This means that if there is a suitable atmosphere, liquid water can exist on the surface.

To test this hypothesis, in the future, astronomers hope to use NASA’s James Webb Space Observatory to study this system. If LP 890-9c has an atmosphere, the telescope should be able to find traces of it and also try to determine its chemical composition.

Illustration of two super-Earths orbiting a red dwarf star.

An illustration of two super-Earths orbiting a red dwarf star. (Image: Mark Garlick/Science Gallery via Getty Images).

Characteristics of the stars and planets of the LP 890-9 system.

Characteristics of the stars and planets of the LA 890-9 system. (Source: Adeline Deward).

Not so long ago, TESS was also credited with the discovery of two new super-Earths. The first is a super named earth TOI-1452b, located in the constellation Draco (Thousand Dragons), 100 light years from Earth. TOI-1452b was initially identified by scientists as a vast ocean world; Next is Super Earth TOI-836b is ɑ 90 light years away. Despite the indicators of a super-Earth, TOI-836b is a hot planet – its surface temperature can reach 500 degrees Celsius.

“The TESS space telescope searches for exoplanets (planets outside the solar system) using a transitive approach, tracking the brightness of thousands of stars at a time, looking for weak spots, possibly due to planets passing in front of their stars hosts. – Letitia Delrez, exoplanetary scientist at the University of Liège (Belgium) and lead author of a paper detailing the discovery, said.

“TESS’s work is a first step. An equally important second step for astronomers is tracking ground-based telescopes – often indispensable – to confirm the planetary nature of the candidates discovered and refine measurements of their size and orbital properties. “ – added the author.

This tracking work is particularly important in the case of cool stars such as LP 890-9 (the host star of the two recently discovered super-Earths) because most of their light is recorded in infrared, but the sensitivity of TESS is limited. .

This weakness of TASS is shared by the SPECULOOS project telescopes, located in Chile and on Canerife, an island just west of Morocco. These telescopes are equipped with cameras that are very sensitive to near infrared light.

Scientists are excited for the next mission

Michɑël Gillon, astronomer at the University of Liège and principal investigator of the SPECULOOS project, said: “The goal of SPECULOOS is to find potentially habitable planets orbiting some of the smallest and coolest stars in the vicinity of the Sun. This strategy is motivated by the fact that these planets are planets. This is particularly well suited to detailed studies of their atmospheres and the search for possible chemical traces of life with large observatories, such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Michel Gillon was compare jobs discovery of 2 super-Earths LP 890-9Ƅ and LP 890-9c in orbit around the cold star LP 890-9 with work search for exoplanets belonging.

TRAPPIST-1 system.

RAPPIST-1 system. (Source: NASA).

Of the 7 known exoplanets orbiting the TRAPPIST-1 system, 3 are located in the TRAPPIST-1 system “habitable area”which made the TRAPPIST-1 system a prime target for astronomers to investigate.

And the fact that one of these newly discovered worlds occupies the habitable zone of host star LP 890-9 makes further investigation of the system equally intriguing. It’s the ultimate science attraction!

“This allows us to observe more and find out if the planet LP 890-9c has an atmosphere, and if so, we will continue to study its nature and assess its habitability.” – Professor of planetary sciences Ąmaury Triaud, astrophysicist at the University of Ɓirmingham (United Kingdom) and head of the ЅPECULOOS working group.

Scientists will look for factors that contribute to life, such as the exoplanet’s size and distance from its host star, as well as the size and temperature of the host star itself.

“The habitable zone is a concept that a planet with Earth-like geological and atmospheric conditions would have a surface temperature that would allow water to remain liquid for billions of years.” – Professor Ąmaury Triaud explains.

Our Earth is located in the Goldilocks region.

Our land is located in the Goldilocks region. (Photo: Getty Images/Science Photo Libra).

Next, scientists hope to study the atmosphere of SPECULOOS-2c, possibly with JWT, which recently detected carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an alien planet.

“It is important to detect as many temperate worlds as possible in order to study the diversity of exoplanet climates; and ultimately, to dig deep to measure how often biology occurs in the universe.” ” Maury Triaud concludes.

The team’s study was published Wednesday, September 6 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Source of the article: Country