rare! The University of Hawaii in the United States photographed a mysterious planet 400 light-years away

According to the US "Newsweek" website reported on October 25, scientists took a photo of a planet more than 400 light-years away from Earth. This discovery is so rare that scientists have previously observed very few planets directly with telescopes.

According to the University of Hawaii, the planet is also one of the youngest planets scientists have discovered so far. It orbits an early star that is farther away, helping scientists learn more about how planets formed.

The search for exoplanets is a branch of astronomy, and scientists have set their sights on the depths of the universe in search of planetary systems like Earth. This research helps to derive the formation of our world.

Because other stars are so far away that the surrounding planets appear small and dark, current means often fail to actually see distant planets. Scientists need to turn to indirect observations to discover planets without actually observing them.

One way to find this is that scientists can observe a distant star for a long time. If the star appears to dim briefly on a regular basis, it means that there is a planet orbiting it, and we can infer some possible features of the planet. This method is called transit.

Another indirect way to search for distant planets is to observe whether a star is slightly wobbly or attracted by its planetary gravity. Again, we still can't really see these planets, but we know they're there.

Scientists have thus discovered thousands of planets. It's much harder to actually "see" a distant planet because the stars are so dazzling. In NASA's words: "It's like seeing fireflies in the spotlight." ”

Now, scientists have directly observed an exoplanet called 2M0437b, which is about 417 light-years from Earth. Moreover, the formation time of this planet is relatively short, only one or two million years.

2M0437b is very far from its star, reaching 118 astronomical units (the distance between the Earth and the Sun is 1 astronomical unit). 2M0437b is so large that it is classified as a so-called "super Jupiter" category.

Because 2M0437b is young, its temperature reaches 1400 to 1500 Kelvin (about 1127 to 1227 degrees Celsius). It is precisely because the planet is hot and far away from the star (such a combination is quite rare) that scientists can observe it directly.

The University of Hawaii at Manoeux released a photo of 2M0437b through a press release. The briefing quoted eric Gaidosh, a professor at the university and first author of the paper, as saying: "With this unexpected discovery, there is one more member on the list of the few planets that we can observe directly with telescopes." ”

"By analyzing the planet's light, we can understand its composition to some extent, and perhaps how it formed from the disc-shaped stardust that has long ceased to exist around the star, where it was originally located," Gaidosh said. ”

Gaidosh also said that future studies using various telescopes, such as the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, will hopefully reveal more information about the 2M0437b atmosphere.

Scientists initially discovered 2M0437b using subaru telescopes at Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, and then used the Keck Observatory in the same area to make more observations.

The preprint of the research paper was published on the American Acheff Paper Preprint website on October 19, and will be officially published by the Royal Astronomical Society Monthly in the future.

Source: Reference News Network