Two new gaseous planets are found orbiting a sun-like star 352 light-years from Earth — and citizen scientists helped discover them while collaborating with astronomers.
The two exoplanets, which are planets that orbit stars outside of our system , are called planet b and planet c. They orbit a star referred to as HD 152843, which features a similar mass to our sun but is 1.5 times bigger and brighter.
Their discovery was published earlier this month within the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Planet b is analogous in size to Neptune and about 3.4 times larger than Earth. It completes one orbit round the star every 12 Earth days. The outer planet, planet c, is 5.8 times bigger than our planet, which makes it a sub-Saturn. it’s an orbit between 19 and 35 Earth days.
For comparison, if both planets were located in our system , they might closely orbit the sun.
Citizen scientists were ready to help discover these planets by participating in Planet Hunters TESS. This NASA-funded project, available on the Zooniverse website, includes quite 29,000 people round the globe. It allows people to assist look for exoplanets using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS mission.
The planet-hunting satellite launched in April 2018 then far, the mission team has identified quite 100 exoplanets and discovered over 2,600 planet candidates that require to be confirmed.
The planet-hunting satellite launched in April 2018 then far, the mission team has identified quite 100 exoplanets and discovered over 2,600 planet candidates that require to be confirmed.
Volunteer citizen scientists use publicly available TESS data to look through graphs that showcase the brightness of stars that the satellite has observed, called light curves. If any of those stars show a dip in brightness, it could suggest that a planet has passed ahead of the star during orbit, which is named a transit.
If multiple people submit an equivalent light curves, an algorithm collects them for researchers to research . This way, they need exoplanet candidates they will follow abreast of . It helps to possess human eyes on these light curves because computers aren’t always ready to correctly identify potential planets because it is easy to mistake other phenomena for planets.
“That’s why tons of exoplanet candidates are missed, and why citizen science is great,” said Nora Eisner, a doctoral student in astrophysics at the University of Oxford within the uk and lead author of the study, during a statement.
The information collected by citizen scientists about HD 152843 was analyzed by researchers and compared with models. They determined that two transits were made by the earth closest to the star, planet b, while a 3rd observed transit likely came from the outer planet, planet c.
Follow-up observations of the star were made using the the acute Precision Spectrometer instrument at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and HARPS-N, or the High Accuracy speed Planet Searcher for the hemisphere , at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in La Palma, Spain.
This provided further confirmation of the planets by using the speed method, which tracks the wobble of starlight as planets orbit a star.
More data and observations will allow them to work out the masses of both planets.
While both planets are too hot and gaseous to support life, they supply more information about the variability of planets to be found outside of our system . Future observation of those planets by the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, set to launch in October, could determine whether the exoplanets have atmospheres and if so, what they’re made from .
“We’re taking baby steps towards the direction of finding an Earth-like planet and studying its atmosphere, and still push the boundaries of what we will see,” Eisner said.
The citizen scientists who participated within the study were also made coauthors of the research.
One of those coauthors is Cesar Rubio, the daddy of a 7-year-old son named Miguel who loves talking about planets and stars with him.
“I attempt to nurture that,” said Rubio, a machinist in Pomona, California, who makes parts for mining and power generation equipment. “I feel that I’m contributing, albeit it’s only sort of a small part. Especially research project , it’s satisfying on behalf of me .”
