The new planet, called Glisee 486b, is located just 24 light years away from Earth and is also made of rock. However, it is three times warmer and larger than the Earth.
Symbolic photo
The MAROON-X device built by the University of Chicago team has detected its first planet. In the last two decades, scientists have discovered many planets orbiting distant stars. However, they are just like any point on the map. University of Chicago astronomer Jacob Bean said that it is like seeing a point named Paris on a map of Europe.
Scientists are developing more and more new telescopes and instruments for the discovery of new planets. Bean led the creation of an instrument called Maroon-X that was fitted with the Gemini Telescope in Hawaii last year. The device not only helped scientists discover the third nearest star with a transiting exoplanet, but also helped discover that it is rocky like planet Earth.
Three times hotter and bigger than the earth
The new planet, which is being called Glisee 486B, is located just 24 light years away from Earth and is made of rock. However, it is three times warmer and larger than the Earth. Professor Bean said that this is the third closest planet with a transiting exoplanet and is the first discovery of Maroon-X. We are very happy and in the coming years we are going to learn a lot about Terrestrial Exoplanet.
For a very long time astronomers have not had powerful telescopes enough to find exoplanets because it is really hard to see them next to the bright light of their stars. Trying in many different ways with better equipment can yield better results. MAROON-X captures small changes in the light spectrum of a star. Using this information, scientists can calculate the mass of the unseen planets.
TESS had already found out
These calculations are combined with the readings of NASA’s TESS spacecraft, which measures the size of the planets, to find out whether the planet is rocky like Earth or gaseous like Jupiter. Let us tell you that TESS has already registered the possible existence of a planet near the Gliese 486 star, which has been discovered by the Maroon-X team.
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