In a major development in the field of exoplanet research, astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Giant Telescope have discovered a new planet orbiting Barnard's Star, the closest single star to our Sun.
The results, as detailed in a study published in the scientific journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, represent the first confirmed discovery of a planet orbiting this nearby star, making it one of the closest known exoplanets to Earth in general.
This discovery represents a crucial step towards exploring potentially habitable worlds outside the solar system and demonstrates the increasing accuracy of exoplanet detection techniques.
Here is a short video from the European Space Agency showing scientists' perception of the shape of the newly discovered planet:
Bernard's star
Hisham Ben Yahia, Vice President of the Tunisian Society for Astronomy, said in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net that Barnard’s star “is a small, low-mass star located 6 light-years from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus, the 13th constellation in the zodiac. It is the fourth closest star.” To the sun after the triple star system Centauri, the closest and Alpha Centauri A and B, and the closest star in the sky of the northern hemisphere.”
Bin Yahya adds, “This star, which is about 10 billion years old (twice the age of our sun), is considered a red dwarf. Its temperature is relatively low, reaching 2,500 degrees Celsius, which is approximately half the temperature of the sun.” Thanks to its proximity to Earth and its convenient location for observation, the star attracted the attention of scientists who completed many studies to search for planets orbiting in its orbit.
This small star succeeded in hiding its newly discovered satellite from the eyes of scientists for a long time. According to a statement published on the European Southern Observatory website, the planet, which was called “Bernard B,” revolves in an orbit very close to its star, which is 20 times closer to it than the planet Mercury is to the sun, and the time it takes to make a complete orbit is about 3.15 Earth days. . Meaning that one year on Earth is equal to about 116 years on this planet.
As for the planet, despite its proximity to its parent star, its surface temperature (125 degrees Celsius) is colder than the surfaces of Mercury and Venus due to the dim brightness of the star, says Ben Yahya.
Lead author Gunay Gonzalez Hernandez from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands in Spain explained in a statement obtained by Al Jazeera Net, “Bernard B is considered one of the lowest mass exoplanets and one of the few known planets with a mass less than that of Earth. But the planet is very close to the host star, “And closer to the habitable zone.”
The technological precision behind the discovery
Given the difficulty of discovering small exoplanets, especially those very close to the parent star, the road to this discovery was long, as researchers continued to monitor the star over the past five years using the giant VLT telescope of the European Southern Observatory, located at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, before the existence of the discovered planet was confirmed.
According to Ben Yahya, “What made this discovery possible is the development of technologies used in the discovery of exoplanets, such as the radial velocity method, which enables scientists to deduce the presence of planets by detecting minute changes in the movement of the star and methods of spectrum analysis.”
The European Southern Observatory statement indicates that scientists used an instrument on the giant telescope called the “Eschel Spectrograph for Monitoring Stable and Rocky Exoplanets,” or “Espresso” for short, which is an extremely accurate device designed to measure the star’s vibrations resulting from the gravity imposed by the planets orbiting it. Instead of observing the exoplanet directly, the device looks for a “wobble” in the host star caused by the gravity of the body it orbits, an ideal approach for detecting planets that are very close to their stars, like this one.
The research team's results were confirmed using data from other exoplanet hunting instruments, such as the High-Precision Radial Velocity Planet Searcher “HARPS” at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory.
Are there more planets on the horizon?
In addition to the confirmed planet, the international team has discovered evidence that may indicate the existence of 3 KuasyourB possibly orbiting Barnard's star, Confirming these planets requires further observations using the “Espresso” instrument to confirm them.
Co-author Alejandro Suarez Mascareno, from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, said in a statement included in the statement that this discovery is important in the broader context of exoplanet research, saying that the discovery of this planet “shows, along with other previous discoveries such as the planets Proxima b and d, that our extinction “The universe is full of low-mass planets.”
This discovery, according to the researchers, paves the way for more exciting developments in the field of exoplanet research. The European Southern Observatory's Extremely Giant Telescope (ELET), currently under construction, is expected to revolutionize our ability to detect small, rocky planets in temperate regions around nearby stars.