Nearby Exoplanets |
Nearby Exoplanets |
Nov 15 2017, 04:17 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
There have been a few topics in recent years pertaining to exoplanets found circling nearby red dwarfs, particularly Proxima Centauri and Trappist-1. There's a new one to report, and I thought I'd give the topic a more general scope rather than specific to this one.
The star in question is Ross 128, and the planet's solar flux is between that of Earth and Venus. There's a good chance that this is potentially the most "habitable" exoplanet yet found, and is happily quite close (13th closest system), so that telescopes will be able to separate the light of the planet from that of the star. This is a circumstance that only a few nearby stars will permit in the foreseeable future, so Ross 128 is likely to figure large in our exoplanet studies over the next century. https://www.eso.org/public/archives/release...36/eso1736a.pdf |
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Jun 10 2020, 07:09 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
Thanks for the interesting update and, in general, for keeping this thread refreshed with new information and ideas. I am always reminded as the curtain slowly lifts of the limitations imposed by observational selection and wonder about the remaining unseen planets in this and other systems.
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Jul 6 2020, 08:02 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
Another nearby system with interesting potential: Last month, the discovery of two warm/hot Super Earths around Lacaille 9352 (Gliese 887) was announced. This is actually the brightest red dwarf in the sky (or nearly so) at 10.7 light years away, and is near the boundary of classification as a K star rather than M. This alone is a notable discovery. What might be more interesting is the additional indication of a third planet with an orbital period of 51 days, because such a planet, if real, could be an earth-sized planet in the habitable zone. Moreover, such a planet might turn out to be outside the grip of tidal locking. I'm putting the cart before the horse with all those "if"s but the significance is that tidal locking might turn out to be a factor restricting habitability, and we know of very few earth-sized planets in habitable zones that aren't likely to be tidally locked, and we don't know of any that are this nearby. (Of course, we have yet to establish the rotation of any earth-sized exoplanets, but dynamical factors strongly imply this for many cases.)
I think we should be on the lookout for confirmation and followup in case Gliese 887 d exists. This, along with Alpha Centauri A and B, Tau Ceti, and Epsilon Eridani, offer five nearby possibilities for non-tidally locked earthlike planets that we will be able to observe directly. As yet, we have zero discoveries, so this mere hint of one is already something to pique the intrigue. |
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