On a vast rocky world in a distant solar system, a year passes in just half a day.
Astronomers continue to search for unique planets in deep space, and a new survey has just discovered 15 new planets, including a unique super-Earth. These rocky worlds are 30 to 70 percent larger than Earth, but not as large as planets like Neptune. This latest super-Earth discovery, called TOI-1798 c, is extremely rare because it orbits very close to its star—so close that it takes about 12 hours to orbit. (This is the USP, ultra-short period orbit.)
While some super-Earths inhabit milder regions of the solar system where liquid water may exist, TOI-1798 c is extremely hot.
“TOI-1798 c is orbiting its star so fast that the planet is A year on Earth lasts less than half a day on Earth. “Because of their proximity to their host star, USPs are also extremely hot – receiving more than 3,000 times the radiation that Earth receives from the Sun. They exist in such extreme environments. Medium means the planet may have lost whatever atmosphere it originally formed.
NASA scientists view the first Voyager images. What he saw made him shudder.
The discovery of new exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Mix and match speed of light
While life probably wouldn’t inhabit such a hot, irradiated place, such a planet increases understanding of what types of rocky worlds exist out there and how other solar systems differ from our own. For example, as far as scientists currently know, super-Earths are common in other solar systems, but not ours. Most solar systems have two or more stars. We have one.
“This suggests that our solar system may not be as typical as we thought,” Crossfield said.
Artist’s impression of two exoplanets orbiting the star TOI-1798. Super-Earths are inner planets.
Image credit: WM Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko
To find the super-Earth TOI-1798 c, which is many light-years away, researchers used two observatories. NASA’s instrument TESS (short for Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) has sensitive cameras that can look for dips in a star’s light as planets transit it. This could provide evidence of the planet’s existence and detailed information about its orbit.
But there’s more. The exoplanet research team also used Earth’s WM Keck Observatory on top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii to search for the planet’s mass. They measured the slight wobble of the star as it orbited, ultimately determining the super-Earth’s mass. With this information, they can infer its density and other possible characteristics.
So far (as of May 24, 2024), astronomers have confirmed 5,632 planets in our galaxy. Yet our galactic home, with hundreds of billions of stars, may be filled with Trillions Exoplanets.
