Two Earth-like planets could be hiding close to our solar system


comments

Two Earth-like planets could be orbiting a star in Alpha Centauri, our closest solar system.

The mystery worlds are thought to be much too hot to support life, with surface temperatures of around 1,500°C.

But astronomers say they could be part of a more extensive solar system containing watery worlds like our own 4.3 light years away.

Two Earth-like planets could be orbiting a star in Alpha Centauri, our closest solar system. The mystery worlds are thought to be much too hot to support life, with surface temperatures of around 1,500°C. Pictured is an artist's impression of our closest solar system, Alpha Centauri  

Two Earth-like planets could be orbiting a star in Alpha Centauri, our closest solar system. The mystery worlds are thought to be much too hot to support life, with surface temperatures of around 1,500°C. Pictured is an artist's impression of our closest solar system, Alpha Centauri  

The first planet, dubbed Alpha Centauri Bb, was discovered in 2012, but quickly dismissed by scientists who believed it had been a false alarm.

Now a team of astronomers, led by Cambridge University, has taken a second look at the evidence.

'If you ask anyone working in exoplanets, they would all have a different opinion about the existence of Alpha Centauri Bb,' Brice-Oliver Demory of the University of Cambridge told the New Scientist.

The original method of looking for the planet was based on measuring tiny wobbles in the motion of Alpha Centauri B caused by a gravitational tug of war with the orbiting planet.

Comparison of the size and orbit of Alpha Centauri B around Alpha Centauri A. Alpha Centauri B nearly takes 80 years to go around Alpha Centauri A in a highly eccentric orbit

Comparison of the size and orbit of Alpha Centauri B around Alpha Centauri A. Alpha Centauri B nearly takes 80 years to go around Alpha Centauri A in a highly eccentric orbit

The latest study has combined that data with Hubble's technique of looking for a dip in the light from Alpha Centauri B caused by the planet passing in from of the star.

The team observed Alpha Centauri B in 2013 and 2014, for a total of 40 hours.

The 2013 data showed signs of a transit, but they were longer than expected. But the signal disappeared completely in the 2014 data set.

According to the New Scientist, the researchers say that doesn't mean the planet isn't there, just that it is difficult to be seen from Earth.

They believe the signal in the 2013 data may be another Earth-sized planet in that solar system with a year lasting around 20.4 days.

'EYEBALL PLANETS' COULD BE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE ALIEN LIFE

Astronomers have so far focused their search for alien life on planets that are similar to our own.

But extra-terrestrial beings could be residing on worlds that look like giant eyeballs instead, according to one researcher.

These planets have one side permanently gazing at their host red dwarf star because they are 'tidally locked' in the same way that moon is to Earth.

Sean Raymond in Nautilus explains that if you were standing on the surface of a planet like this, the sun would remain fixed in one spot on the sky.

As a result, these 'eyeball' planets have a permanent day side and permanent night side.

This means that the water is trapped unable to reach the temperate side of the planet, creating huge glaciers on the dark side.

These planets could either be 'hot eyeball' worlds or 'icy eyeball' planets. A hot eyeball planet is located close to its star, on an orbit that makes it hotter overall than Earth.

The day side would be roasting with any water boiling into vapour, while the night side would be freezing.

But at the terminator - the boundary between night and day – conditions could be just right for life to thrive.

This discovery suggests there is a chance of other planets in the same solar system which may have conditions in which life could thrive.

This isn't the first time scientists have attempted to prove the existence of a planet that has been dismissed as 'noise'.

Last month, astronomers said mysterious signals - previously dismissed as stellar bursts - are coming from an Earth-like planet.

The Gliese 581d planet has conditions that could support life, and is likely to be a rocky world, twice the size of Earth.

Signals from the planet were initially discovered in 2010, but last year thought to be noise from distant stars.

Pennsylvania State University researchers said Gliese 581d - and its companion Gliese 581g - were simply a trick of the light caused by magnetic bursts from a local star 22 light-years away.

The new British research, however, argues the method used by the Pennsylvania team was only suitable for large planets, and that it could miss small ones like GJ 581d. 

The latest study has combined that data with Hubble's technique of looking for a dip in the light from Alpha Centauri B caused by the planet passing in from of the star. Pictured is the relative size of the Alpha Centauri stars and its planet. The planet Alpha Centaury B b is also shown to scale similar to Earth-size

The latest study has combined that data with Hubble's technique of looking for a dip in the light from Alpha Centauri B caused by the planet passing in from of the star. Pictured is the relative size of the Alpha Centauri stars and its planet. The planet Alpha Centaury B b is also shown to scale similar to Earth-size




IFTTT

Put the internet to work for you.

Delete or edit this Recipe

0 comments:

Post a Comment