- 4483 - PLANETS - 8 or is it now 5,000? - The hunt for new exoplanets continues. On May 23rd, 2024, scientists published the NASA TESS-Keck Catalog, an effort to publicly release over 9,000 radial velocity measurements collected by NASA’s space-based Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).
---------------------------------------- 4483
- PLANETS - 8
or is it now 5,000?
- An accompanying analysis of these 9,000
suspected planets validated 32 new planetary candidates and found the masses of
126 confirmed planets and candidates with a wide range of masses and orbits.
-
- Radial velocity (RV) measurements are a
backbone of exoplanet hunting. Telescopes collect data on how a star “wobbles”
by checking for a red-shift (if it’s moving toward the Earth) or blue-shift (if
it’s moving away) based on the gravitational pull of an exoplanet orbiting it.
If the data presents a repeating pattern, the scientists know they have a
likely exoplanet candidate.
-
- To calculate the planet’s rotational
period, scientists use the frequency of the changes in light from the star.
They can estimate a planet’s orbital period based on how quickly the star
cycles through the red and blue shifts they would expect from a complete
planetary orbit. Unfortunately, since telescope time is limited, most of the
exoplanets found so far using this method have much shorter orbital periods
than the Earth.
-
- Calculating a planet’s mass is also
possible using the RV method by simply calculating the planet’s gravitational
pull as it is either directly behind or in front of the star. The magnitude of
the respective red or blue shift can be directly tied to the planet’s mass,
causing the gravitational pull.
-
- A “sub-Neptune” is a category of planet
that is a gas giant slightly smaller than Neptune, the smallest gas giant in
our solar system. A planet known as TOI-1824 falls into this category but has a
unique weight. It is 19 times as massive
as Earth despite being only about 2.6 times its size. That is an extremely
dense planet and well outside of the range of other typical sub-Neptunes, which
typically vary between 6 and 12 times the mass of our own planet.
-
- A planet in the dataset that is closer in
size to our own is TOI-1798c. From the mass perspective, it’s about the same
size as Earth. However, it is so close to its parent’s star that it orbits it
every 12 hours. This puts it in the category of an “Ultra-short period” (USP)
orbit. -
-
- Typically, these planets are tidally
locked to their star and blasted with massive amounts of radiation. Estimates
put the solar radiation it receives from its host star at 3,000 times that
received by the Earth.
-
- Doubtless, other exoplanets are hiding in
the trove of data release. As humanity
begins to collect more and more discovered exoplanets, more strange and
exciting new worlds will be found. It’s a crazy galaxy out there, and we’re
only just starting to explore it.
-
-
May 22, 2024 PLANETS - 8
or is it now 5,000? 4472
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--------------------- --- Sunday, May 26, 2024
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