Astronomers using the SPHERE (High Spectrum Spectrum Contrast Exoplanet) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have discovered a second orbiting planetary mass companion TYC 8998-760-1, a solar type of 16.7 Million-year-old star previously known to host a giant planet. The researchers have also managed to obtain direct images of this system from various planets.
This image, captured by the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, shows TYC 8998-760-1 accompanied by two giant planets, TYC 8998-760-1b and TYC 8998-760-1c. The two planets are visible as two bright dots in the center (TYC 8998-760-1b) and at the bottom right (TYC 8998-760-1c) of the frame. Other bright spots, which are background stars, are also visible in the image. Image credit: ESO / Bohn et al.
TYC 8998-760-1 is a K3-type star located 309 light years away in the small southern constellation of Musca.
Also known as 2MASS J13251211-6456207, the star is roughly the same mass as our Sun, but is only 16.7 million years old.
The star was previously known to harbor a massive planet, TYC 8998-760-1b, with a radius 3 times that of Jupiter and a mass of 14 Jovian masses.
The newly discovered planet TYC 8998-760-1c is at least 6 times more massive than Jupiter.
The two alien worlds orbit their parent star at distances of 160 and 320 AU. This places these planets much farther from their star than Jupiter or Saturn from the Sun.
“This discovery is a snapshot of an environment that is very similar to our Solar System, but at a much earlier stage in its evolution,” said Leiden University doctoral student Alexander Bohn, lead author of the study.
“Although astronomers have indirectly detected thousands of planets in our galaxy, only a small fraction of these exoplanets have been directly photographed,” added astronomer Matthew Kenworthy of Leiden University, co-author of the study.
“Direct observations are important in finding environments that can support life.”
TYC 8998-760-1 is the first direct image multiplanetary system to be detected around a young analogue of our Sun.
“Our team has now been able to take the first picture of two gas giant mates orbiting a young solar analog,” said co-author Dr. Maddalena Reggiani, a postdoctoral researcher at KU Leuven.
The study was published in the Astrophysical charts.
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Alexander J. Bohn et al. 2020. Two giant wide-orbiting planets with direct images around the young, solar analog TYC 8998-760-1. ApJL 898, L16; doi: 10.3847 / 2041-8213 / aba27e
