Frozen super-Earth discovered

Astronomers have found a frozen exoplanet more than three times the mass of Earth, orbiting a star that's only six light-years away. The exoplanet is orbiting Barnard's star, the closest solitary star to our sun. This makes it the second closest known exoplanet to us. Previously, an exoplanet was found orbiting in the three-star Proxima Centauri system.

The exoplanet was found after stitching together 20 years of data, including 771 individual measurements, from seven instruments. The analysis that led to the discovery is detailed in astudy published Wednesday in the journal Nature. For years, astronomers thought they would find a planet around the nearby star, but it eluded them.

"The biggest 'kick' about this discovery is the host star," Paul Butler, study co-author and astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science, wrote in an email. "Barnard's star is the 'great white whale' of planet hunting."

The planet, known as Barnard's star b, is probably dimly lit by its star and slightly colder than Saturn. The researchers believe that it is an icy desert with no liquid water, a hostile environment where the average surface temperature is around minus-274 degrees Fahrenheit.

The red dwarf star itself emits only about 0.4% of our sun's radiance, so the planet receives about 2% of the intensity that Earth receives from its sun. This is because Barnard's star is in the class of M dwarf stars, cooler and less massive than our sun.

 

 

Frozen super-Earth discovered

Astronomers have found a frozen exoplanet more than three times the mass of Earth, orbiting a star thats only six light-years away. The exoplanet is orbiting Barnards star, the closest solitary star to our sun. This makes it the second closest known exoplanet to us. Previously, an exoplanet was found orbiting in the three-star Proxima Centauri system. The exoplanet was found after stitching together 20 years of data, including 771 individual measurements, from seven instruments. The analysis that led to the discovery is detailed in astudy published Wednesday in the journal Nature. For years, astronomers thought they would find a planet around the nearby star, but it eluded them. The biggest kick about this discovery is the host star, Paul Butler, study co-author and astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science, wrote in an email. Barnards star is the great white whale of planet hunting. The planet, known as Barnards star b, is probably dimly lit by its star and slightly colder than Saturn. The researchers believe that it is an icy desert with no liquid water, a hostile environment where the average surface temperature is around minus-274 degrees Fahrenheit. The red dwarf star itself emits only about 0.4% of our suns radiance, so the planet receives about 2% of the intensity that Earth receives from its sun. This is because Barnards star is in the class of M dwarf stars, cooler and less massive than our sun.