Astronomers have discovered 85 exoplanet candidates using a NASA telescope

It appears that another strange group of exoplanets has been found. Astronomers led by Faith Hawthorne from the University of Warwick have discovered 85 possible cold exoplanets, with temperatures that appear similar to those of our global neighbors. Solar System.

These candidates were detected among the data from Tess telescope (short for Transitioning Exoplanet Survey Satellite), from NASA. To identify possible worlds orbiting other stars, TESS analyzes the dip in their brightness caused by passing objects, such as planets.

For the study, scientists focused their analyzes on exoplanets with longer orbital periods, which will have more moderate temperatures. And it worked: The 85 planet candidates found took from 20 to 700 days to orbit their stars, a huge difference compared to other exoplanets observed by TESS, which typically have orbital periods of 3 to 10 days.

The outer planets are similar in size to Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. Of the 85 candidates discovered, 60 are truly new, and 25 have already been discovered in TESS data. According to the authors, some of these worlds are located in the habitable zones of their stars, that is, they are at distances from their stars that could allow suitable conditions for the emergence of life.

Sam Gill, one of the study's authors, highlighted the efficiency of detection with just two transits to identify exoplanets with longer orbital periods. “This allows us to find cooler planets, which could be discovered through traditional searches,” he explained.

In the next steps of the study, new observations will still be necessary to confirm that the identified objects are in fact exoplanets. “There is a lot of scope for further research into these exoplanets – to learn more about their precise orbital periods, whether they have them or not Moons “Exactly what they're made of,” Faith added.

The article with the results of the study has been published in the repository arXivwithout peer review.

source: University of Warwick

Popular on Canaltech: