High school students considered ‘youngest astronomers ever’ discover four exoplanets 200 light-years away using space-based TESS
- Kartik Pinglé (16) and Jasmine Wright (18) discovered four new exoplanets
- The pair used the TESS satellite to observe a sunny star 200 light-years from Earth
- Three of the planets are sub-Neptunes and the other one is a super-Earth
Two high school students identified four new exoplanets, about 200 light-years from Earth, and considered them ‘the latest astronomers’ to make such a discovery.
Kartik Pinglé (16) and Jasmine Wright (18), who both attend Massachusetts schools, participated in the Student Research Mentoring Program (SRMP) at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA).
Together with the help of Tansu Daylan, a postdoctoral fellow at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, the students studied and analyzed data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).
Together they focused on Tess Object of Interest (TOI) 1233, a nearby, bright sunny star and here they found four planets orbiting the star.
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Two high school students identified four new exoplanets, about 200 light-years from Earth, and considered them ‘the youngest astronomers’ to make such a discovery. Kartik Pinglé (left), 16, and Jasmine Wright (right), 18, both attend Massachusetts schools
“We wanted to see changes in the light over time,” Pinglé explained. ‘The idea is that this would happen if the planet passed through the star or preceded it [periodically] cover the star and lower its brightness. ‘
TESS is a space satellite that has discovered more than 20,000 exoplanets, some of which are super-Earths in the habitable area.
While exploring 1233, Pinglé and Wright hoped to find at least one planet, but were overwhelmed with joy when a total of four were spotted.
“I was very excited and very shocked,” Wright said. “We knew that was the purpose of Daylan’s research, but finding a multiplanetary system and being part of the discovery team was really cool.”
Together they focused on Tess Object of Interest (TOI) 1233, a nearby, bright sunny star and here they found four planets orbiting the star. Three of the newly discovered planets are considered ‘sub-Neptunes’ and the fourth is a ‘super-earth’ (artist impression)
Three of the newly discovered planets are considered ‘sub-Neptunes’, which are gaseous but smaller than the Neptune that lives in our solar system.
While observing the planets, the team determined that each completed their orbit around 1233 every six to 19.5 days.
However, the fourth planet is described as ‘super-earth’ because of its large size and rockiness – it orbits the star in less than four days.
“Our species has long considered planets outside our solar system, and with multi-planetary systems you hit the jackpot,” Dylan said.
‘The planets come from the same disk matter around the same star, but they were ultimately different planets with different atmospheres and different climates due to their different orbits. We therefore want to understand the fundamental processes of planet formation and evolution using this planetary system. ‘
TESS is a space satellite that has discovered more than 20,000 transoplanets, some of which are super-Earths in the habitable area.
Daylan added that it was ‘win-win’ to work with Pinglé and Wright on the study.
“As a researcher, I like to interact with young brains who are open to experimentation and learning and have minimal bias,” he said.
“I also think it’s very beneficial for high school students, because they are exposed to leading research and it quickly prepares them for a research career.”