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On this minor but reasonable note, Gazeta.Ru says goodbye to lovers of everything extraterrestrial and unknown. Colorful alien dreams!
—What are the orbital periods of these planets? — From 1.5 to 12 days. These are ultra-short periods compared to a year on Earth. The planets resemble the Galilean satellites of Jupiter. We believe that in the past they migrated closer to the star.
According to astrophysicist Popov, if astronomers want to look for planets with Earth-type life, they need to look at other stars, for example, sun-like ones. “The first reason is that the seven planets found are close to the star, so most likely their rotation is synchronized (an eternal day has been established on them). Secondly, powerful flares occur on red dwarfs and this is not good for health. And finally, if the planets have a slow rotation of their own, their geomagnetic dynamo “dies” and the magnetic field disappears. And to protect yourself from flares, you need a magnetic field! One thing leads to another, and few people believe that highly organized life can exist on such planets,” the scientist believes.
— Are these the closest planets to us in the habitable zone? - No, the closest one is the planet near Proxima Centauri.
Scientists believe that the discovered planets were unlikely to be able to preserve their own satellites. This is due to their close location from the star and the effect of gravity.
— Question: what is the probability that they are inhabited? “It’s too early to talk about this; we need to find out what the atmosphere is like on these planets.”
Sarah Seeger: We don't know quite a lot about these planets, but with the discovery of this system, we know how many discoveries of similar systems we have to discover in the future. The planets orbit around a very small, cold star - not at all like what happens in our solar system.
“This star is very faint, on the limit of not being a brown dwarf, only 0.08 solar masses. But on the other hand, this means that these are the most numerous stars,” says Popov.
Astrophysicist, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics Sergei Popov commented on the discovery of planets with healthy skepticism. “In astrophysics, dozens of results of this level appear every year. The result looks like some kind of record. We often hear that the next most distant quasar has been discovered, and it’s the same here. We cannot say that this discovery poses a great challenge to theorists,” Popov told Gazeta.Ru. - The discovered system is different in that there are seven small exoplanets, and three of them sit in the habitable zone. This is exactly cool, as they say, “Wow”!
The press conference dedicated to the discovery of a planetary system 40 light years from the Sun has ended.
One of the differences between the found system and the Solar one is that, due to its low mass, the TRAPPIST-1 star evolves extremely slowly. “It burns hydrogen so slowly that it will live another 10 billion years. This is quite enough for life to arise on planets,” Ignas Schnellen, co-author of the discovery from the University of Leiden.
Artist's rendering of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system
— What is the age of the planets? - At least half a billion years. This is a fairly young system.
— Question: what about the radiation coming from the star? “This is a big problem for such systems, but this is a calm dwarf.”
Sarah Seager: With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, we will be able to study the atmosphere and composition of these and similar planets.
Nicole Lewis: Three planets are in the habitable zone. One of these planets is similar in size to Earth and has a similar temperature. Planet F has an orbital period of 9 days.
Gillon: Since the planets form a very compact system and are close to their star, they are likely to synchronize their rotation and face the same side of the star, like the Moon.
“Every time a planet passes between us and a star, it dims its light, and from this loss of brightness we can estimate its size.”
Michael Gillon: We have discovered not one, not two, but seven planets. This is a star of the smallest class than all the others - a red dwarf. For comparison, scientists showed how a table tennis ball is comparable to a basketball - the TRAPPIST star is so smaller than our Sun.
The press conference has begun! In 2010, Michael Gillon's group began searching for exoplanets using the method of transits from faint stars neighboring the Sun. To do this, they used the robotic 60-centimeter TRAPPIST telescope in Chile. In 2016, scientists announced the discovery of three Earth-like planets at once around the neighboring star TRAPPIST-1, 40 light years away from the Sun.
By conducting additional observations of this system using other ground-based telescopes, as well as using the Spitzer Space Observatory. Thanks to this, scientists were able to observe as many as 34 transit events, which they attributed to the seven planets orbiting this star. So, in other words, in relative proximity to the Sun, the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system was found, consisting of at least seven terrestrial planets!
NASA and ESA often announce important astronomical discoveries on a grand scale, convening journalists at a press conference. The last time an exoplanet topic became the topic of such a meeting was six months ago, when scientists announced the closest exoplanet to the Sun, Proxima Centauri b. In August 2016, this news caused a lot of noise in the scientific world, but later scientists expressed serious doubts that life could exist on this planet.
An exoplanet is any planet orbiting a star that is not the sun. The first exoplanet was discovered by Swiss astrophysicist Michel Mayor in 1995. Over the past decade, the number of planets discovered outside the solar system has reached several thousand. As of February 2017, 3,577 exoplanets are known, discovered in 2,687 systems. They are discovered in several ways - the transit method, the spectroscopic method, the direct imaging method and the gravitational lensing method. The Kepler space telescope played a major role in the discovery of new planets, searching for planets using the transit method, recording the slightest fluctuations in the brightness of the stars they eclipse.
Nothing was reported about the essence of the discovery, except that we are talking about another scientific achievement in the field of exoplanets. The world's media are competing to speculate whether the discovery of life on another planet, aliens, or a new unusual planetary system will be announced. However, it is known that the press conference is timed to coincide with the next scientific publication in the journal Nature, and journalists with a subscription know in advance about the essence of the upcoming publication :-)
It is known that the talk at the press conference will be about the discovery of new exoplanets. Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA's scientific development department, Michael Gillon, an astronomer from the University of Liege (Belgium), Sean Carey, an employee of the NASA Science Center. Spitzer at Caltech, Nicole Lewis, astronomer at the Space Telescope Research Institute, Sarah Seeger, planetary scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The upcoming announcement of an important astronomical discovery by NASA scientists became known a few days ago. Journalists were invited to the organization's headquarters in Washington.
The announcement talks about the discovery of a planet outside our solar system
Moscow. February 21. website - The NASA Aerospace Agency will hold a press conference on exoplanets on Wednesday, February 22.
According to the most optimistic assumptions, the aerospace agency may announce that a certain planet has been found outside the solar system where life is theoretically possible.
As previously reported, at a press conference in May 2016, NASA confirmed the existence of 1,284 exoplanets outside the solar system. As Ellen Stofan, chief scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, said, this number is twice the number of planets previously discovered using the Kepler telescope.
The analysis was carried out based on data from a catalog of planet candidates obtained by the Kepler telescope in July 2015. 4,302 potential planets have been identified. For 1,284 candidates, the chance of being named a planet exceeded 99%, which represents the minimum required to achieve planet status.
Another 1,327 planetary candidates appear to be not planets, as they have a probability below 99% and require further research. The remaining 707 are apparently astrophysical phenomena.
NASA is currently closely studying dozens of planets that orbit stars like our Sun.
The first discovered exoplanet similar to Earth was Kepler-186f, The International Business Times recalls. The celestial body received this name because it was found using the Kepler orbital telescope. It is the first planet with a radius close to Earth's to be discovered in the habitable zone of another star. The size of the planet is only 10% larger than ours. It is located in the red dwarf planetary system Kepler-186 in the constellation Cygnus at a distance of 492 light years from Earth. Its opening was announced on April 17, 2014. The planet orbits its star at a distance favorable for the emergence of life. In this regard, researchers do not exclude the possibility that water in liquid form may exist on it.
Later, in July 2015, NASA announced the discovery of a planet most similar to Earth. The discovery was also made thanks to the Kepler space telescope and was named Kepler 452. The planet revolves around a star similar to the Sun in an orbit similar to the Earth, so that a year on it is equal to 380 Earth days. Kepler 452 is one and a half times larger than Earth. Its age is 6 billion years (versus 4.5 billion for the Earth). The distance at which it is removed from the star, as well as its solid surface, make it possible for life to exist on it. The only catch is that the discovered “twin” of the Earth is located at a distance of 1.4 thousand light years from it - the journey to Kepler 452 with current technologies will take about 550 million Earth years.
Currently, the existence of 3,563 exoplanets has been reliably confirmed. Moreover, the number of exoplanet candidates is much larger. The total number of exoplanets in the Milky Way galaxy is estimated at at least 100 billion, of which 5 to 20 billion may be Earth-like. In addition, current estimates indicate that about 34 percent of Sun-like stars have planets comparable to Earth in their habitable zone.
Scientists are confident that these planets will become the best place to discover extraterrestrial life in the future.
To bookmarks
Photo by NASA
Each chemical element “glows” in its own way. We only need to catch this “light” and break it down into its components. The presence of certain elements will tell us whether the planet has an atmosphere, water, or, say, is a huge metal ball. It happens.
Pavel Potseluev, head of the Alpha Centauri project
Referent for lectures in the areas of “astronomy and cosmonautics” of the St. Petersburg Planetarium, graduate student of the Department of Celestial Mechanics of St. Petersburg State University, Maria Borukha, in a conversation with TJ, called the discovery of exoplanets “another coin in a large treasury of knowledge.”
Any discovery in astronomy is important. What they discovered is interesting and surprising - a planetary communal, a very densely populated system near another Sun.
The importance is not in this discovery itself, but in the fact that such discoveries are possible at all. I am truly fascinated by the opportunity to discover other worlds - other planets. And even more so, such tiny ones as our Earth - this is an incredibly difficult task.
The discovery itself shows us once again that the world is amazing and that other systems may be completely different from ours. In our solar system there are no planets that are so close to the Sun. And there aren't that many rocky planets. There are seven of them, but we have only four.
Vasily Basov, Anatoly Chikvin and Sergey Zvezda participated in the preparation of the material.
The organization announced three exoplanets potentially suitable for life
On February 22, an emergency conference of the American aerospace agency NASA, which was announced yesterday, took place in Washington. There were no details of the upcoming event, except that the main theme was a certain discovery outside the solar system. All the details: in our online broadcast.
That's it, the press conference is over. NASA did not deceive us and made a really important announcement: there are seven exoplanets in the TRAPPIST system, and three of them are potentially suitable for life and there may be water there. The atmosphere there is good and the temperature is good - in general, we collect our belongings and go! Flying there at the speed of light takes only 39 years.
On this little by little we will wrap up. Cosmic success to you on the upcoming holidays and follow all the news both from our Planet and from outside!
` The exoplanet that could potentially harbor life is quite similar to Earth. Even the temperature there is about the same. So, there is a second Russia with its own winter?!
` Regarding the study of these planets: it will take about 5 years to make dramatic progress in questions about them. About satellites, for example.
` Questions began from journalists who were not only in the hall, but also calling on the phone. By the way, scientists are also sent questions on social networks.
` Question from the audience: how many planets are there that could potentially be inhabited? According to scientists, never before have they been discovered in one system.
` Here is the system itself:
` Now for the encouraging news: if we take off from somewhere in Washington right now, reach the speed of light and set a course for TRAPPIST, we will reach our goal in 39 years. Who is confident?
` It’s interesting that the dwarf star is smaller than our Planet. Moreover, the ratio is approximately this: a golf ball and a basketball projectile. It is 40 light years away from us. So, we stand in line for tickets.
` And now it’s even more interesting: three of these seven planets have atmospheres that are potentially favorable for water. And, as you know, water is life!
` Ta-da-da-daaaam! We are talking about the star TRAPPIST-1, around which 7 planets revolve.
` The press conference has begun! Thomas Zurbuchen, assistant administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, took the floor first.
` We'll wait for something about exoplanets. Or about the stars they revolve around.
` Well, is everyone stocked up on popcorn? Perhaps in just a few minutes our lives will radically change!
20:00 While waiting for the press conference to begin, we spoke with the famous astronomer. Dmitry Vibe pleased: . It's only four light years away.
The only clue is in the official NASA press release: that is, those planets that orbit other stars outside the solar system.
Experts suggest that today a truly important discovery may be announced that will affect further research. It is possible that what will follow
The announcement of the press conference caused a strong reaction on the Internet and numerous users froze in anticipation of what was to come, not forgetting to argue about the possible topics of the press conference. They also recall a previous similar event, which occurred in September 2016, when the main topic was Jupiter's moon Europa.
On February 22, the press conference will be attended by Thomas Zurbuchen, assistant administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Sean Carey, head of the Spitzer Science Center, as well as astronomers and scientists from the United States and Belgium.
In any case, NASA’s communication with media representatives today will simply not be missed. Our live online broadcast will begin at 21:00 Moscow time.
Three possibly habitable planets have been found 40 light years from Earth.
Scientists have concluded that the single star TRAPPIST-1 in the constellation Aquarius has a system of seven Earth-sized planets. The head of the scientific directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, announced this at a press conference at NASA.
According to him, on three of these seven planets conditions are suitable for the existence of life. “We are taking a tremendous step forward with this discovery,” Zurbuchen said. The scientist added that it could be a significant step towards discovering habitable environments and places that are suitable for life.
In turn, Michael Gillon from the Institute of Technology and Astrophysical Research at the University of Liege in Belgium, who is responsible for the study of exoplanets, explained that liquid water may exist on three planets.
Scientists clarified that the three planets closest to TRAPPIST-1 are presumably too hot for life to exist, and the most distant one is too cold.
The discovery was made by Gillon's team, which was the first to discover this planetary system last year. According to the Belgian, we are now talking about at least “the most significant discovery in 14 years.”
It was previously thought that there were only three exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 star system.
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