2024-10-02 09:15:06
Using the VLT (Very Large Telescope) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), a team has discovered a planet orbiting Barnard’s Star. This is the closest star system to our Sun among all the stars. Of those that are more than one, the closest is Alpha Centauri. The distance separating Barnard’s Star from the Sun is greater than that separating it from Alpha Centauri.
On the newly discovered planet Barnard’s Star, a year (or how long it takes to make one complete revolution around its star) lasts more than three Earth days. That exoplanet (a planet outside our solar system) is at least half the size of Venus.
The team’s observations also indicate the possible existence of three other candidate exoplanets in different orbits around the star.
Located just six light years away, Barnard’s Star is the second closest star system, after the Alpha Centauri group of three stars. Because of its proximity, it is a prime target in the search for Earth-like planets. Despite a promising discovery in 2018, there are no confirmed planets orbiting Barnard’s Star so far.
The discovery of this new exoplanet is the result of observations made in the last five years with the ESO VLT, located at the Paranal Observatory, in Chile. Jonay González Hernández, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (Spain) who is also the author of the study said: “Although it took us a lot, we were always sure that we could find something. The team is looking for signs of possible exoplanets within the habitable zone or temperature zone around Barnard’s star, that is, the orbital band where the temperature would allow liquid water on the planet’s surface. The astronomical society often focuses on the study of red dwarfs (such as the Barnard’s Star) because small rocky planets are easy to find in their area, something more complex to do if they are in it big stars, similar to the Sun.
The astronomical community prefers to look for planets around cold stars, such as red dwarfs, because the temperature region is closer to the star than that of hot stars, such as the Sun. This means that planets orbiting within their tropical environment in short orbital periods, allowing them to be effectively monitored over a period of several days or weeks, rather than years. In addition, red dwarfs are much smaller than the Sun, so they are more easily disturbed by the attraction of the planets around them and therefore they have more energy, making it easier to detect such life
Barnard b, as the newly discovered exoplanet is called, is twenty times closer to Barnard’s star than Mercury is to the Sun. It orbits its star in 3.15 Earth days. Although its surface temperature (125 degrees Celsius) is not as hot as that of other planets that take a few days to make a complete revolution around their star, it prevents the presence of liquid water on the surface.
Artist’s impression of Barnard b, the planet in the background that has been discovered orbiting Barnard’s star. (Photo: ESO / M. Kornmesser. CC BY 4.0)
Barnard b is one of the lowest-mass exoplanets known and one of the few known with a mass less than Earth.
For their observations, the team used ESPRESSO, an advanced instrument designed to measure the size of a star caused by the gravitational pull of one or more orbiting planets. The results obtained from these observations are confirmed by data from other instruments, which are also specialized in the search for exoplanets: HARPS, at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, HARPS-N and CARMENES. However, the new data does not support the existence of the exoplanet reported in 2018.
In addition to the confirmed planet, the international team also found indications of the presence of three other exoplanet candidates orbiting the same star. However, these candidates will need additional notices with ESPRESSO to confirm. “Now we have to continue observing this star to confirm other signals of possible candidates,” explained Alejandro Suárez Mascareño, also a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands and co-author of the study. “But the discovery of this planet, along with other previous discoveries like Proxima b and d, shows that our cosmic backyard is full of dwarf planets.”
ESO’s ELT (Elephant Large Telescope), which is under construction, is set to change the field of exoplanet research. The ELT’s ANDES instrument will allow the scientific community to see more of these small rocky planets in the temperature region around nearby stars, beyond the reach of current infrared telescopes. and study the composition of their worldviews.
Jonay González Hernández and his colleagues presented the technical details of Barnard b’s discovery in the academic journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, under the title “A planet orbiting Barnard’s star.” (Source: ESO. CC BY 4.0)
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