Princeton University has announced the first direct observation of a planet-like object orbiting a star similar to the Sun made by a team of international scientists. The team, including a Princeton University astronomer, used the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii, which is the newest planet-hunting instrument in the world.
It is not yet sure whether the object known as GJ 758 B, is a large planet or a brown dwarf, which is often referred to as a 'failed star'. The object lies nearby in the Milky Way galaxy, at about 300 trillion miles, and is believed to be about 10 to 40 times the mass of Jupiter.
Michael McElwain, a postdoctoral research fellow in Princeton's Dept. of Astrophysical Sciences and part of the discovery team, says that this is an important find due to the fact that one of the current main goals in astronomy is to directly detect planets that orbit Sun-like stars.
The images of GJ 758 B were taken during a test run of the new observation equipment in May and August. The results were then published online in the electronic version of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Discoveries such as this are crucial for the understanding of how gas giants and brown dwarfs form and evolve, says astronomer Alan Boss from the Carneige Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. Finding these planets also brings scientists and astronomers one step closer to discovering Earth like planets in the near future.
The team was able to spot this planet-like object even through the glare of the star it orbits. This was possible due to the High Contrast Coronagraphic Imager with Adaptive Optics, or HiCIAO, on the Subaru Telescope. The HiCIAO is part of the new generation of instruments that are now being used to detect planets or faint objects near bright stars by masking out the intense light.
GJ 758 B lies about 29 times as far from its star as the Earth does from the Sun, which is equivalent to where Neptune orbits. It is also the coldest object to be detected orbiting a star like the Sun. More observations will be performed to establish the definite size and shape of the object's orbit.
A second object orbiting the same star is thought to have been revealed by the Subaru telescope as well, but more observations are needed to confirm this. If it turns out to be a second companion, then the objects would most likely be planets since two brown dwarfs would not be able to remain stable for so long.
An agreement has been reached between Princeton and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan for a ten year collaboration using the new Subaru Telescope to observe the nearby universe. A large part of this partnership is to search for planets and to advance the search for the existence of extraterrestrial life.
Comments
Oh wow, this is very cool!
I tweeted this. Cool info!:-)
...what is it with the Americans? Why is everyone else invisible? This is a collaborative work, and the two lead researchers (as well as 5 other of the 20 authors) are from outside the US. Still, in the US news systems this somehow morphs into something like "Princeton makes a big discovery"? Which is all the more strange since there's really great science done in the US, so you wouldn't lose anything by giving others credit where credit is due.
Exciting discovery!
Dear Uhm,
I guess you missed the part that says 'team if international scientists'. Also if you had read the article you would have seen that it says that Princeton announced the news and not made the discovery itself.
Moreover, while the news fully acknowledges that this is an international effort, it will, however, note the participation of a Princeton American scientist because this is an American news site after all.
Lastly, I am not actually an American as I was born in Europe and now reside here in the US.
So cool. Thanks for the report. :)
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