Playback of an artist of five planets orbiting TOI-1233, four of which were discovered using … [+]
NASA / JPL-Caltech
Two high school students aged just 16 and 18 have discovered four new exoplanets around the brightest Sun-like star – and co-authored a paper published in Astronomical Journal.
A rare achievement and one described as “jackpot hitting” by their mentor, Jasmine Wright, 18, and Kartik Pinglé, 16, are paid for four hours of work each week by the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian, as part of the Student Research Mentoring Program (SRMP).
Wright and Pinglé discovered the planets around a star called TOI-1233, the brightest known star, similar in size and temperature to our own Sun, about 200 light-years from the Solar System in the constellation of the southern hemisphere Centaurus. The star is also known as HD 108236. It was already known that an exoplanet was in orbit.
With the discovery, the star becomes the brightest Sun-like star known to host four or more exoplanets in transit. It is set to be an ideal target for NASA’s future James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
The young astronomers used data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a space telescope looking for exoplanets by recording droplets in the stars’ brightness. They also used data from ground-based telescopes.
“We sought to see changes in light over time,” Pinglé said. “The idea is that if the planet transits the star or passes in front of it, it (periodically) would cover the star and reduce its brightness.”
A slight dive is a sign that a planet can cross the Sun from the point of view of TESS.
“I was very excited and very shocked,” Wright said of their discovery of four planets orbiting a star called TOI-1233. “I knew that was the goal … but it was really great to find a multi-planetary system and be part of the discovery team.”
The planets orbiting TOI-1233 comprise a rocky “super-Earth” orbiting in less than four days and three Neptune-like gaseous planets orbiting in six, 14 and 19.5 days, respectively.
As a result, they have average surface temperatures between 700 ° F and 1500 ° F until unlikely to host life, although their rapid orbits mean more transits – and therefore decrease in the brightness of the host stars. This means more opportunities for astronomers to examine light passing through the atmosphere of exoplanets.
TOI-1233 / HD 108236 is 200 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. It’s right on top … [+]
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A team of researchers used the characteristic Exoplanet satellite (CHEOPS) recently confirmed a fifth planet, which takes 29 days to orbit the star.
There may be rocky planets beyond TOI-1233, possibly in its “habitable zone” where liquid water would be possible.
It is also hoped that the discovery around TOI-1233 will help astronomers better understand the fundamental processes of formation and evolution of the planet.
“With multi-planet systems, you’ve reached the jackpot,” said mentor Wright and Pinglé, Tansu Daylan, a postdoctoral fellow at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. “When it comes to characterizing planetary atmospheres around sun-like stars, this is probably one of the best targets we will ever achieve.”
The planets came from the same disk of matter around the same star, but became different planets with different atmospheres and different climates due to their different orbits.
Designed to connect high school students interested in research with real-world scientists at Harvard and MIT, SRMP accepts approximately 12 students each year and priorities are underrepresented minorities. Once accepted, students work with a mentor on a one-year research project.
Not surprisingly, both students are prepared for careers in astronomy. Wright has just been accepted into a five-year master’s program in astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, while Pinglé, a high school junior, plans to study applied mathematics or astrophysics after graduation.
I wish you clear skies and big eyes.