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An artist’s rendering of five planets orbiting TOI-1233, four of which were discovered using the … [+]
NASA / JPL-Caltech
Two high school students aged just 16 and 18 discovered four new exoplanets around the brightest known Sun-like star and co-authored an article published in The astronomical journal.
A rare achievement and described as ‘hitting the jackpot’ by their mentor, Jasmine Wright, 18, and Kartik Pinglé, 16, are paid four hours of work per week by the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian as part of their Student Research Mentorship Program (SRMP).
Wright and Pinglé discovered the planets around a star called TOI-1233, the brightest star known similar in size and temperature to our own Sun, about 200 light years from the solar system in the constellation of southern hemisphere of the Centaur. The star is also known as HD 108236. It was already known that an exoplanet was in orbit.
With this discovery, the star becomes the brightest solar star known to host at least four exoplanets in transit. This is an ideal target for NASA’s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
The young astronomers used data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a space telescope that searches for exoplanets by recording drops in starlight. They also used data from ground telescopes.
“We were looking to see changes in light over time,” Pinglé said. “The idea being that if the planet passes through the star, or passes in front of it, it would cover (periodically) the star and decrease its luminosity.”
A slight dip is a sign that a planet can pass through its Sun from TESS’s perspective.
“I was very excited and very shocked,” Wright said of their discovery of four planets orbiting a star called TOI-1233. “We knew that was the goal… but finding a multi-planetary system and being part of the discovery team was really cool.
The planets orbiting TOI-1233 include a rocky “super-Earth” that orbits in less than four days, and three Neptune-like gas planets that orbit in six, 14 and 19.5 days, respectively.
They therefore have average surface temperatures ranging from 700 ° F to 1,500 ° F with little chance of harboring life, although their rapid orbits mean more transits – and therefore dips in the brightness of host stars. This means more opportunities for astronomers to examine the light passing through the atmosphere of exoplanets.
TOI-1233 / HD 108236 is 200 light years from the constellation Centauri. It’s just above the … [+]
Getty
A research team used the Exoplanet Characterization Satellite (CHEOPS) recently confirmed a fifth planet, which takes 29 days to orbit the star.
It is possible that there are rocky planets further from TOI-1233, probably in its “habitable zone” where liquid water would be possible.
It is also hoped that the discovery around TOI-1233 will help astronomers better understand the fundamental processes of planetary formation and evolution.
“With multi-planetary systems, you kind of hit the jackpot,” said Tansu Daylan, Wright and Pinglé mentor, post-doctoral fellow at MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. “When it comes to characterizing the planetary atmospheres around sun-like stars, this is probably one of the best targets we’ll ever get.”
The planets originated from the same disc of matter around the same star, but they ended up being different planets with different atmospheres and different climates due to their different orbits.
Designed to connect high school students interested in research with real-world scientists at Harvard and MIT, SRMP accepts around 12 students each year and prioritizes underrepresented minorities. Once accepted, students work with a mentor on a one-year research project.
Unsurprisingly, the two students are ready for a career in astronomy. Wright has just been accepted into a five-year master’s program in astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, while Pinglé, a junior in high school, plans to study applied mathematics or astrophysics after the graduation.
I wish you clear skies and wide eyes.
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