This first of its kind The image reveals a star system just 300 light years from Earth. That It was captured by the Very Large Telescope (VLT), which is managed by the European Southern Observatory and located in the Atacama Desert of Chile. This is considered the first direct image of multiple exoplanets in orbit around a star similar to ours, according to an ESO press release.
“Although astronomers have indirectly detected thousands of planets in our galaxy, only a small fraction of these exoplanets have been directly photographed,” said astronomer Matthew Kenworthy of Leiden University, co-author of a new paper, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, which describes this planetary system, in the press release.
the Research to search for exoplanets with high spectropoimetric contrast The instrument (SPHERE) in VLT made this image possible. As a hand that blocks the Sun, SPHERE used a device called a coronagraph to remove unwanted light from the host star, allowing astronomers to see weaker objects nearby.
This planetary system is quite young.. At an estimated age of 17 million years old, the host star, named TYC 8998-760-1, is just a baby, compared to our middle-aged Sun, which is 4)6 bilion years
G / O Media may receive a commission
Another distinctive feature of this system. is that the The exoplanets, which are massive gas giants, are considerably further from their host star compared to our gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn. The famore exoplanet is 320 AU (a unit of measure in which 1 AU is the distance from Land to SUnited Nations) of his star, while the other is at 160 AU. In comparison, Jupiter and Saturn are 5 and 10 AU from the Sun, respectively.
These gas giants are also quite large, even for giants. The inner exoplanet is 14 times the mass of Jupiter, while the outer object is six times the mass of Jupiter.
Looking to the future, astronomers would like to further study these planets and determine how and where Originally formed A big question in astronomy is whether large planets like these form near their host stars and constantly migrate outward. or if there are other planetary migration scenarios. This system is young and relatively close, making it an ideal candidate for this type of research.
.
