Using observations from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a trio of hot worlds larger than Earth orbiting a much younger version of our Sun called TOI 451. The system resides in the recently discovered Pisces-Eridanus stream, a collection of stars less than 3% the age of our solar system that stretches across one-third…
Tag: Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
Astronomers see multiple eclipses in unique 6-star system
An international team of astronomers has discovered a unique 6-star system where eclipses of all 6 stars can be seen from Earth. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/tyc-7037-89-1-sextuplet-system-6-stars-that-eclipse…
Sextuply-eclipsing sextuple star system uncovered in TESS data with an assist from AI
An international team of researchers led by Brian P. Powell at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Veselin P. Kostov at the SETI Institute has identified a unique system consisting of six stars. The three binary stars form a gravitationally-bound system and each pair is producing eclipses. The star system, known as TYC 7037-89-1, was uncovered in data from the Transiting…
Hear the strange music of distant planetary system TOI-178
In the animation in this post, the rhythmic movement of newly discovered planets around the star TOI-178 is represented through a musical harmony, created by attributing a note (in the pentatonic scale) to each of the planets. Hear the music of these planets. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/star-system-tio-178-planets-in-resonance-orbits-cheops…
Striped brown dwarf looks a lot like Jupiter
The surface features of brown dwarfs – objects midway in mass between planets and stars – can’t be seen. But researchers have found a way to reveal Jupiter-like stripes and bands in the atmosphere of the closest brown dwarf, Luhman 16B. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/brown-dwarf-luhman-16b-jupiter-like-stripes…
Theia 456 is a stretched-out stream of sibling stars
A close look at the “stellar stream” known as Theia 456 finds it contains contains 468 stars born at the same time. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/theia-456-stellar-stream-468-stars-born-together…
Space weather in Proxima’s vicinity dims hopes of habitable worlds
Astronomers used radio waves to study conditions in the vicinity of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our sun. The results suggest Proxima’s 2 known planets are likely bathed in intense radiation from this star, casting doubt on the planets’ potential for life. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/proxima-centauri-space-weather-planets-uninhabitable…
Two young planetary systems detected by TESS
Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have discovered two new young planetary systems. They found that two stars not older than 320 million years, namely TOI-251 and TOI-942, are orbited by a mini-Neptune planet and two Neptune-sized exoplanets. The finding is reported in a paper published November 26 on arXiv.org. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-young-planetary-tess.html…
Exoplanet survey spacecraft discovers two new warm exoplanets
Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have detected two new warm alien worlds orbiting inactive M dwarfs. The newfound exoplanets, designated TOI 122b and TOI 237b, are about 2.7 and 1.4 times larger than the Earth, respectively, and warmer than our home planet. The finding is reported in a paper published October 29 on the arXiv pre-print server. Source:…
Data reveals evidence of molecular absorption in the atmosphere of a hot Neptune
An international team of scientists recently measured the spectrum of the atmosphere of a rare hot Neptune exoplanet, whose discovery by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was announced just last month. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-10-reveals-evidence-molecular-absorption-atmosphere.html…