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An international research team with the participation of Geneva discovered an exoplanet three times larger than the Earth. It is the third planet closest to our solar system.
The planet was discovered using the same telescope as the one that identified the very first exoplanet. (Image: UNIGE / Anne Van der Stegen)
(SDA)
Researchers from the University of Geneva, as well as international colleagues, have discovered an exoplanet in our cosmic district. The planet has about three times the mbad of the Earth and orbits in a distance of eight light-years from our solar system, a star named Gl411. Scientists report in the journal "Astronomy and Astrophysics".
"The planet we have discovered, Gl411b, is the third Exoplanet known to date on our solar system," said author of the study, Rodrigo Diaz, of the University of Buenos Aires , according to a statement from the University of Geneva released Wednesday.
Its proximity and brightness made it an ideal target for future giant telescopes, such as the extremely large European telescope (ELT), to study its atmosphere.
The new exoplanet was discovered as part of a planetary research project in what are called red dwarfs. The mbad of this type of star, small but very common, represents less than half the mbad of the sun.
The Sophie spectrograph as a measuring instrument
The discovery was made with the help of a measuring instrument developed in part at the University of Geneva: the Sophie spectrograph. Launched twelve years ago, this instrument is installed on the 193 cm telescope of the Haute Provence Observatory – the same one used by Michel Mayor to discover the first planet outside the solar system in 1995.
Using "Sophie" to perform very accurate measurements of the speed of the Gl411 star at 155 different times over several years, the researchers were able to prove the presence of a planet and conclude the properties.
The most likely orbital period of Gl411b around its central star is 13 days. It is therefore always much closer to its star than the next sun planet Mercury to the sun.
Although Gl411 is much colder than our sun, life on exoplanets in orbit is probably not possible. The planet receives about 3.5 times more energy from its star than the earth receives from the sun. The conditions on Gl411b are therefore likely to look more like Venus than to Earth.
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