One of the oldest stars in the Milky Way galaxy offers an extraordinarily warm rocky atmosphere ‘super-earth’ planet, a new study reports.
This is known as TOI-561b exoplanet is about 50% larger and three times more massive than Earth, researchers said. It sweeps around its host in a very narrow orbit, and takes less than 12 hours to complete one lap.
Given this proximity, TOI-561b has an average surface temperature of more than 3,126 degrees Fahrenheit (1,726 degrees Celsius), which is too hot for any form of life as we know it, according to a statement from the University of California, Riverside.
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The researchers also found that the density of TOI-561b is similar to that of Earth.
“This is surprising because you would expect the density to be higher,” studied co-author Stephen Kane, a planetary astrophysicist at UC Riverside, said in the statement. “This is consistent with the idea that the planet is extraordinarily old.”
Heavy elements such as iron and magnesium are produced by fusion reactions in the hearts of massive stars. The abundance of these elements built up over time in the Milky Way and other galaxies, as more and more stars eliminate these materials and disperse them into space when they die in supernova explosions.
The low density of TOI-561b indicates that it has relatively few heavy elements and is therefore very old and may have formed about ten billion years ago, said lead author Lauren Weiss, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hawaii, on Monday ( 11 January) said. during a presentation at the 237th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
The planet’s host, TOI-561, is indeed located among a rare population of stars in an area called the galactic thick disk. These stars are known to have clearly less heavy elements than typical stars in the Milky Way.
“TOI-561b is one of the oldest rocky planets ever discovered,” Weiss said. the UC Riverside Declaration. “Its existence shows that the universe has formed rocky planets since its inception 14 billion years ago.”
Weiss and her colleagues discovered and characterized TOI-561b by studying NASA’s observations Transit satellite for exoplanet survey (TESS) and the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii. (TOI stands for “TESS Object of Interest.”)
The system is approximately 280 light-years from Earth and contains two other known planets, in addition to TOI-561b. But these two other planets are too large and not dense enough to be rocky, unlike the TOI-561b.
‘Although this planet probably cannot be inhabited today, it can be a harbinger of many rocky worlds has yet to be discovered around the oldest stars of our galaxy, ”Kane said in the statement.
The new findings were Published January 11 in the Astronomical Journal and was presented at the 237th AAS meeting on Monday.
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