Scientists have discovered a new ‘super
Earth’ planet with a mass around 5.4 times that of the Earth, orbiting a very
bright star near to our Sun. the exoplanet, GJ 536 b, is not within the star’s
habitable zone, but its short orbital period of 8.7 days and the luminosity of
its star make it an attractive candidate for investigating its atmospheric
composition. The star, GJ 536, is a red dwarf which is quite cool and near to
our Sun. During the research, a cycle of magnetic activity similar to that of
the Sun has been observed, but with a shorter period, three years. So far, the
only planet researchers found is GJ 536 b, but researchers are continuing to
monitor the star to see if they can find other companions. Rocky planets are
usually found in groups, especially around stars of this type, and they are
pretty sure that they can find other low-mass planets in orbits further from
the star, with periods from 100 days up to a few years. Researchers are
preparing a programme of monitoring for transits of this new exoplanet to
determine its radius and mean density.
No comments:
Post a Comment