A planet as large as Earth has been identified

Speculus-3B It was found in 55 light years away From the sun and gravity About an extremely cold red dwarf (Speculation 3); It cycles every 17 hours and this movement causes this A year on this planet is shorter than one day spent on Earth. On the other hand, here the days and nights never end. The explanation for this phenomenon is according to the astronomer Michael Gillon From the University of Liège in Belgiumlies in the truth of that Speculus-3B Rotates synchronouslyIt always leaves the day side facing the red dwarf; On the contrary, his night side always remains in the dark.

A rotating body performs a synchronous rotation when its period of rotation is equal to its period of rotation (i.e. motion along its orbit). The most obvious result of this type of motion is that the planet It will always have the same side facing the red dwarf.

Professor Michael Gillon and his team made the discovery as part of project Speculation (Look for habitable planets that obscure ultracool stars) It was implemented in collaboration with the Universities of Cambridge and Birmingham (United Kingdom), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), the University of Bern (Switzerland), the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (Spain) and the European Southern Centre. Observatory.

been used 4 state-of-the-art telescopes belonging to the European Southern Observatory Placed in the observatory Paranal in the Atacama DesertIn Chile, the study conducted by a team of scientists led by Gillon was published Nature astronomy.

Discovery planet Speculus-3B It was possible thanks to the so-called Transitthat is, light Its intensity decreases in starlight Which can be seen with a telescope when a planet passes in front of it. Because this loss of brightness is so faint, barely noticeable, astronomers should Observe it for several weeks to be able to identify it Maybe orbs in transit.

This is the Discovery of a second planetary system around a red dwarf star: The first discovery was the discovery of 7 rocky planets that gravitate around them Trappist-1It is another red dwarf star 40 light-years away from Earth.

there a star In question he called around the newly discovered exoplanet Speculation 3, Its radius is equal to 12.3% of the radius of the Sun, and therefore it is slightly larger than the planet Jupiter, and its mass reaches 10% of the Sun’s mass, and its temperature does not reach 50% of the Sun’s temperature, and its light is very weak: in fact, on Despite being “only” 55 light-years away, it is barely visible.

As for the new planet speculose-3b, A. offers Its radius is slightly smaller than the radius of the Earth. As Professor Gillon said. Its composition is unknown But there are several reasons to believe that it is an environment Dense and rocky. First of all, based on the knowledge collected so far about the formation and evolution of planets, due to their dimensions that generally rule out the existence of a gaseous or icy state.

Furthermore, the long lifetime of red dwarf stars creates a condition where the planets orbiting them may be hot enough long enough for life to arise on the planet. However, in case speculose-3b, Large amounts of radiation coming from a star Speculation They prevent this process, therefore, it is The presence of an atmosphere is completely unlikely On this planet.

Planetary world Julian de Wit Subordinate Massachusetts Institute of Technology, As well as the co-director of the observatory speculus north, He explained that very cold dwarf stars are generally very active and therefore often undergo radiation Torches. These phenomena generate radiation that also spreads into the space surrounding the star; So, in this case they hit the planet Speculoos-3b. The intensity of this radiation reaches 16 times the level of radiation that the Earth receives from the sun. Accordingly, Professor de Wit concluded, despite of Speculus-3B It had an atmosphere, it seemed It is unlikely to be a habitable place.

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