The new catalogue, created as part of the TESS-Keck survey, includes 126 strange planets outside our solar system, ranging from unusual worlds with extreme environments to those that could potentially support life as we know it.
Artist's impression of the 126 planets in the new TESS-Keck survey catalog is based on data such as planet radius, mass, density, and temperature. Question marks represent planets that need more data for full characterization. Image courtesy of W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko.
“Relatively few known exoplanets have had both their mass and radius measured,” said Steven Kane, professor at the University of California, Riverside, and principal investigator of the TESS-Keck survey. paper Published in Astrophysical Journal Supplement.
“Combined, these measurements tell us what the planet is made of and how it formed.”
“With this information, we will be able to answer the question of where our solar system fits in the grand scheme of other planetary systems.”
Professor Kane and his colleagues analysed more than 13,000 radial velocity (RV) measurements to calculate the masses of 120 confirmed planets and six candidate planets spread across the northern sky.
“These RV measurements allow astronomers to detect and characterize these exoplanetary systems,” said astrophysicist Ian Crossfield of the University of Kansas.
“When we see a star wobbling back and forth in a regular pattern, we can infer the presence of orbiting planets and measure their masses.”
Several planets discovered in the TESS-Keck survey stand out as touchstones for improving astronomers' understanding of the diverse ways planets form and evolve.
in Related Papers In Astronomical JournalAstronomers have announced the discovery of two new planets orbiting a sun-like star.
The first is a sub-Saturnian planet with a mass and radius intermediate between Neptune and Saturn.
“There's been some debate about whether sub-Saturn planets are truly rare or whether we're just bad at finding them,” said Michelle Hill, a graduate student at the University of California, Riverside.
“So planet TOI-1386b is an important addition to this planetary group.”
TOI-1386b takes just 26 days to orbit its star, while its neighbour, a planet with a mass similar to that of Saturn, takes 227 days to orbit the same star.
in Related ArticlesThe researchers described TOI-1437b, a planet about half the size of Neptune that orbits a sun-like star every 19 days.
“Planets smaller than Neptune and larger than Earth are the most common worlds in our galaxy, but they don't exist in our solar system,” said Daria Pidhorodetka, a graduate student at the University of California, Riverside.
“With each new discovery, we are reminded of how diverse the universe is, and that our place in it may be more unique than we can understand.”
The catalog also contains detailed descriptions of planets that, unlike the Sun, orbit extremely short distances around their stars.
One is so close to the orange dwarf that it completes an orbit in less than 12 hours.
“TOI-1798c orbits its star so quickly that a year on the planet lasts less than half an Earth day,” said Alex Polansky, a graduate student at the University of Kansas.
“Because these planets are so close to their stars, they are extremely hot and receive more than 3,000 times the radiation that Earth receives from the Sun.”
“Being in this extreme environment means that the planet is likely losing any atmosphere it may have originally formed.”
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Alex S. Polanski other2024. TESS-Keck Survey. XX. Uniform RV analysis of 15 new TESS planets and all survey targets. AppJS 272, 32; Source: 10.3847/1538-4365/ad4484
Michelle L. Hill other2024. TESS-Keck Survey. XIX. Warm transiting sub-Saturn-mass and non-transiting Saturn-mass planets orbiting solar analogues. AJ 167, 151; Source: 10.3847/1538-3881/ad2765
Daria Pidhorodetka other. 2024. TESS-Keck Survey. XXII. TOI-1437 in Near-Neptune Orbit. arXiv: 2405.12448
Source: www.sci.news
