The fast -moving rock world brings hope to discover new planets and hope

Our neighbors, mysterious rock world, bring new discoveries

The newly discovered rock quality outer planets are less than 8 hours a year

The hot GJ 367B is different from anything in the solar system.

The artist's illustration for the newly discovered exterior planet GJ 367B. The planet revolves around its red dwarf star every 7.7 hours. GJ 367B is a rocky planet, which is much larger than the earth. The structure is similar to Mercury. Most of the star cores may be iron. (Picture source. SPP 1992 (Patricia Klein).

A newly discovered alien world can bring some inspiration to the darkest and strange field research in the alien spectrum system.

The discoverer announced in a new study that the planet, known as the GJ 367b, revolves around a small and dark red dwarf, only 31 light years from the sun. (The galaxy is about 100,000 light years wide).

According to members of the research team, GJ 367B is a rock planet, with a size of about 70%of the earth and 55%of the earth's quality. It is one of the most known outer planets. It completes a revolution every 7.7 hours, so it is a "ultra-short cycle" (USP) planet ---- a mysterious, rarely studied planet type.

The joint first author of the research report, the Kristin W. F. Lin of the German Aerospace Center Planet (DLR) said in a statement in the institution: "We have found some ultra -short cycle planets, but it is not clear at this time, it is unclear The origin of them.

"By measuring the accurate basic characteristics of ultra -short cycle planets, we can glance at the system formation and evolution history," Lin added.

Looking for an extreme world and determining its characteristics

Lin, Szilárd CSIZMADIA (common first authors from the German Aerospace Bureau Planets Institute) and their colleagues used the data collected from NASA's Lingri Foreign Star detection satellite (TESS) to find GJ 367B. The satellite was launched to the Earth orbit in April 2018.

TESS uses the "transit law" to capture planetarian traces: because in the viewing perspective of the spacecraft, a little planet will cause slightly reduced brightness when a little planet passes through the star. The research team discovered such brightness depression in TESS's observation of the red dwarf GJ 367. Its width was about half of the sun. Then the team confirmed that the change was caused by a Lingri planet.

TESS's observation reveals that GJ 367B has a ultra -short track cycle and its relative size for its main star. Researchers further described the characteristics of the planet with the help of the high -precision radial speed planet search device (HARPS) installed on the European 3.6 -meter telescope.

HARPS measured the traction of GJ 367B to its main star, so the research team can calculate the quality of this outer planet. Based on the results of various observations, astronomers have determined the density of GJ 367B, which is larger than the earth.

CSIZMADIA said in a statement at the German Aerospace Center Planetary Research Institute: "High -density indicates that the core of this planet is mainly iron. These traits are similar to Mercury: in the core of Mercury, iron and nickel occupies a large proportion, and other in the solar system, others in the solar system The land celestial bodies are different. "

As we know, GJ 367B is not a cradle of life. Members of the research team said that because it is extremely close to its main star, star radiation will always bombard it, and its absorption of radiation is about 500 times that the earth receives from the sun.

Even if the GJ 367b was at the atmosphere, it was certain that it had disappeared into space almost a long time ago. Researchers say that the planet is likely to be locked by the tide: it always faces the main star with a fixed side, and its hot day side temperature is as high as 2,700 (1500 degrees Celsius).

According to Lin, it is not clear how GJ 376B is formed, but there are several different situations that can explain its structure and composition. For example, from our perspective, this planet may be formed by strange iron materials. Or GJ 376B may be the wreckage of a larger planet, but most of the quality is stripped due to star radiation or huge impact.

Lin told us through an email: "If this planet is the remaining core of a former gas planet, then this gaseous planet should not be larger than Neptune."

A relatively close world

The weirdness of GJ 367B has attracted planetary scientists and celestial physicists.

Natalia Gralo, a member of the TESS team and a doctorate student at the University of Florida, said in a statement in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): "We do these things-understand how these planets are with their main stars with their main stars So close, a bit like a detective story. "

"How does it move to the Lord Star? Is this process slow or fierce? I hope that the galaxy where the GJ 367 is located can let us know more about this process." Greiro added. She did not participate in the new research on Science Magazine on Thursday (December 2nd) on Thursday (December 2nd).

In the near future, we will have more discoveries.In view of the relatively close GJ 367, astronomers can use various instruments to study it.For example, researchers can search for other planets in this galaxy, including the world that may survive alien life.

As the co -author of the research, George Rock said in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: "For this kind of stars, the livable band is between two to three weeks. (Livable belt refers to: within this trackThere are liquid water on the planet surface). He is a senior research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Science and Technology of Science and Technology Kafari.

Rick said: "This star is so close to us, so bright, we have a lot of opportunities to find other planets in this galaxy. This is like a sign saying," Come here to find a new planet! '"

By: Mike Wall

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