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Could a real Spock hide in a planet 16 light years from Earth? A group of scientists discovered a super-Earth orbiting a star similar to the Sun that could accommodate life. The planet revolves around 40 Eridani A, the star connected to Vulcan. ( University of Florida )
The Dharma Planet Survey may have found the real Vulcan, a planet in the popular science fiction TV series, Star Trek.
In a new study, scientists revealed the discovery of a planet twice as large as the Earth and gravitating around the star HD 26965, also known as 40 Eridani A.
For the Trekkies, the orange-tinted star that is only 16 light-years away from Earth is connected to Spock's home planet, Vulcan.
A discovery & # 39; Star Trek & # 39;
In 1968, sci-fi author James Blish introduced 40 Eridani A to the Star Trek to know via the book Star Trek 2. The collection of stories, which was adapted from the scenarios of the original television series, detailed the galactic address of Spock, the beloved scientific officer of the Enterprise.
In the 90s, Star Trek producer Gene Roddenberry has made it known in a letter to Sky and telescope, arguing that 40 Eridani A would make the ideal home for Vulcan and Spock.
"Vulcan probably rotates around the primary star, an orange dwarf with a K1 spectral main sequence … Two companion stars – a 9th magnitude white dwarf and a 11th magnitude red dwarf – orbit about 400 astronomical units of the primary" wrote Roddenberry. "They were shining brightly in the Vulcan sky."
Vulcan's real life was discovered by scientists using the Dharma Endowment Foundation Telescope or DEFT, a 50-inch telescope located atop Mount Lemmon in Arizona. This is the first super-Earth discovered by the Dharma Planet Survey.
Life in Vulcan
Meanwhile, 40 Eridani A is slightly colder and slightly smaller than the sun. It also has a sunspot pattern quite similar.
The similarities between the 40 Eridani A and the Sun make it ideal for life on the newly discovered planet to accommodate life and possibly an advanced civilization. The star is about the same age as the Sun (4 billion years), allowing intelligent life to evolve more than just bacteria.
Research continues
"Spock served on the Enterprise ship, whose mission was to search out new strange worlds, a mission shared by Dharma Planet Survey," said Gregory Henry, one of the leading authors of the study.
The Dharma Planet Survey is designed to detect low-mass planets around nearby stars. It began in 2016 and will be operational until 2020. The mission searches for planets in 150 stars at 16 light-years from Earth.
The new planet is the nearest super-Earth that revolves around a sun-like star. HD 26965, according to the researchers, can be seen in the naked eye on a clear night.
The discovery will be published in Monthly Notices from the Royal Astronomical Societybut the document can already be read via arxiv.org.
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