In the deviations that astronomers once believed in planetary systems, researchers found that far away from the alien solar system, planets are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune.
A new study published in the journal Science on April 24 reveals that these “super Earths” often orbit stars at comparable distances than Jupiter’s position in our own solar system, a discovery that challenges long-term assumptions about planet formation.
“We found a ‘super Earth’, which means it’s bigger than our homes, but bigger than Neptune – in a place where only thousands or hundreds of times the Earth is,” said Weicheng Zang, a researcher at the Center for Astrophysics. Harvard and Smithsonian (CFA) and the paper’s lead author.
The international team identified a planet twice the size of the Earth, whose stars are larger than Saturn’s position in the solar system. The discovery stems from the largest microlensing study of similar products, analyzing three times the size of planets that were three times the size of previous samples, including planets that were about eight times higher in earlier microlens surveys.
Microtransparency occurs when the light of a distant star is enlarged from a distant star (such as a planet). The technology is good at detecting planets far from the host star – comparable to the region between Earth and Saturn’s orbits.
The researchers used data from the South Korean Microlens Telescope Network (KMTNET), which consists of three telescopes strategically located in Chile, South Africa and Australia. This global arrangement allows continuous monitoring of the night sky.
Jennifer Yee, famous co-author of Smithsonian astronomy, whose Jennifer Yee, is filled with planetary populations of planets on Earth in orbit outside Earth’s orbit until the size of Jupiter, especially Jupiter, shows us the orbit of planets, especially super Earth. ”
Our solar system has a relatively neat arrangement – four small rocky planets close to the sun, and then four large atmospheric planets in the external system. Previous exoplanetary studies using transit and radial velocity methods have shown that many systems contain various planetary sizes in orbits closer than Earth. This new study will understand the expansion to the external regions of the planetary system.
“This result suggests that in a Jupiter-like orbit, most planetary systems may not reflect our solar systems,” explained Youn Kil Jung, co-author of the Korean Institute of Astronomy and Space Science.
These findings also suggest that at least as many planets as Neptune’s size in these distant orbits provide critical data on planetary population distribution.
“The current data creates a hint for cold planets,” said Professor Shude Mao from China University and West Lake University. “In the next few years, the sample will be four larger factors, so we can limit how these planets form and develop more strictly through the KMTNET data.”
As astronomers continue to expand their exoplanet catalogues, increasing evidence suggests that the arrangements of the solar system may be more exceptional than the rules – a humble reminder that the architecture of planetary systems throughout the Milky Way follows various evolutionary paths.
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