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Two super-Earths around star K2-18
December 5, 2017
Read more at: https://phys.org/new...ar-k2-.html#jCp
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December 5, 2017
New research using data collected by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has revealed that a little-known exoplanet called K2-18b could well be a scaled-up version of Earth.
Just as exciting, the same researchers also discovered for the first time that the planet has a neighbor.
"Being able to measure the mass and density of K2-18b was tremendous, but to discover a new exoplanet was lucky and equally exciting," says lead author Ryan Cloutier, a PhD student in U of T Scarborough's Centre for Planet Science, U of T's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Université de Montréal Institute for research on exoplanets (iREx).
Both planets orbit K2-18, a red-dwarf star located about 111 light years away in the constellation Leo. When the planet K2-18b was first discovered in 2015, it was found to be orbiting within the star's habitable zone, making it an ideal candidate to have liquid surface water, a key element in harbouring conditions for life as we know it.
The data set used by the researchers came from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) using the ESO's 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory, in Chile. HARPS allows for measurements of radial velocities of stars, which are affected by the presence of planets, to be taken with the highest accuracy currently available. Hence, this instrument allows for the detection of very small planets around them.
In order to figure out whether K2-18b was a scaled-up version of Earth (mostly rock), or a scaled-down version of Neptune (mostly gas), researchers had to first figure out the planet's mass, using radial velocity measurements taken with HARPS.
"If you can get the mass and radius, you can measure the bulk density of the planet and that can tell you what the bulk of the planet is made of," says Cloutier.
After using a machine-learning approach to figure out the mass measurement, Cloutier and his team were able to determine the planet is either a mostly rocky planet with a small gaseous atmosphere – like Earth, but bigger – or a mostly water planet with a thick layer of ice on top of it.
"With the current data, we can't distinguish between those two possibilities," he says. "But with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) we can probe the atmosphere and see whether it has an extensive atmosphere or it's a planet covered in water."
Read more at: https://phys.org/new...ar-k2-.html#jCp
There's so many choices!!! Can't wait until the james web is up in running!