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Say hello to HD 219134b - a rocky exoplanet recently discovered using HARPS-North instrument on the Italian 3.6-meter Galileo National Telescope in the Canary Islands, who's existence has been confirmed by NASA's Sptizer Space Telescope.
At a distance of 21 light years, it is the closest confirmed rocky exoplanet we know of. The transiting planet itself cannot be seen by telescopes, but it so happens that it can be seen transiting it's star (lucky us, right?), because the light that reaches us from the star is dimmed around the area where the planet is present, from which the planet's size was deduced (it's mass was worked out using a "radial velocity" method) . It's about 1.6 times as large and 4.5 times as massive as Earth with an orbital period of just 3 days. It's 6 g/cm^3 density classifies it as a rocky planet.
Experts say that the planet is too close to its parent star (a K type main sequence star) to support life, but it is expected to be an object of considerable scientific interest in the near future.
Three other planets in the system have also been discovered which are 2.7 times, 9 times, and 62 times as massive as the Earth, with orbital periods of 7 days, 47 days, and 1190 days respectively. The densities of these planet are yet to be determined as they have not been observed to transit till now.
Any thoughts on this?
At a distance of 21 light years, it is the closest confirmed rocky exoplanet we know of. The transiting planet itself cannot be seen by telescopes, but it so happens that it can be seen transiting it's star (lucky us, right?), because the light that reaches us from the star is dimmed around the area where the planet is present, from which the planet's size was deduced (it's mass was worked out using a "radial velocity" method) . It's about 1.6 times as large and 4.5 times as massive as Earth with an orbital period of just 3 days. It's 6 g/cm^3 density classifies it as a rocky planet.
Experts say that the planet is too close to its parent star (a K type main sequence star) to support life, but it is expected to be an object of considerable scientific interest in the near future.
Three other planets in the system have also been discovered which are 2.7 times, 9 times, and 62 times as massive as the Earth, with orbital periods of 7 days, 47 days, and 1190 days respectively. The densities of these planet are yet to be determined as they have not been observed to transit till now.
Any thoughts on this?