Artists impression of Kepler-16b, the first world understood to definitively orbit 2 stars– whats called a circumbinary planet. The world, which can be seen in the foreground, was found by NASAs Kepler objective. Having shown the approach utilizing Kepler-16b, the team prepares to continue the search for previously unidentified circumbinary planets and assist address questions about planetary formation. Dr. Alexandre Santerne, a partner on the research study from Aix-Marseille University, explains the use of the radial speed approach over the transit method– a method for exoplanet detection in which the observed dimming of light from a star due to its orbiting planet is measured: “Kepler-16b was first discovered 10 years back by NASAs Kepler satellite using the transit method. Having shown we can discover Kepler-16b, we will now analyse data taken on lots of other binary star systems, and search for brand-new circumbinary planets.”
Artists impression of Kepler-16b, the first planet understood to definitively orbit two stars– whats called a circumbinary world. The world, which can be seen in the foreground, was found by NASAs Kepler mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle
A group of astronomers, led by Professor Amaury Triaud of the University of Birmingham, has identified an uncommon kind of exoplanet using a ground-based telescope. The exoplanet is circumbinary, implying it orbits around two stars at when, and previously had just ever been observed utilizing the Kepler space telescope. The groups research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The world, called Kepler-16b, orbits around 2 stars, with the two stars also orbiting one another, forming a binary star system. Kepler-16b is located roughly 245 light years from Earth and, like Luke Skywalkers home planet of Tatooine in the Star Wars universe, you would have the ability to view two sunsets if you might base on its surface.
The 193-cm ground-based telescope utilized in the study is based at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence in France. The group had the ability to identify the world using the radial velocity technique, in which astronomers observe a modification in the velocity of a star as a planet orbits about it, and the planet moves towards and away from the observer.
The detection of Kepler-16b using a ground-based telescope and the radial velocity technique is an essential presentation that it is possible to discover circumbinary planets utilizing more conventional methods, with greater efficiency and at a lower expense than by utilizing space-based observatories.
Having actually demonstrated the method using Kepler-16b, the team plans to continue the search for formerly unidentified circumbinary worlds and help respond to concerns about planetary formation. The normal procedure of planetary formation is thought to occur within a protoplanetary disc– a mass of dust and gas that surrounds a young star. This procedure might not be possible within a circumbinary system.
Professor Amaury Triaud describes: “Using this standard description it is tough to comprehend how circumbinary planets can exist. Thats due to the fact that the presence of two stars disrupts the protoplanetary disc, and this avoids dust from agglomerating into planets, a procedure called accretion.
” The planet might have formed far from the 2 stars, where their impact is weaker, and after that moved inwards in a process called disc-driven migration– or, additionally, we might discover we require to revise our understanding of the procedure of planetary accretion.”
Dr. David Martin, from the Ohio State University (USA), who added to the discovery, explains “Circumbinary planets offer one of the clearest ideas that disc-driven migration is a practical process, and that it takes place regularly.”
Dr. Alexandre Santerne, a collaborator on the research from Aix-Marseille University, describes making use of the radial speed technique over the transit approach– an approach for exoplanet detection in which the observed dimming of light from a star due to its orbiting world is measured: “Kepler-16b was very first found 10 years back by NASAs Kepler satellite using the transit approach. This system was the most unanticipated discovery made by Kepler. We picked to turn our telescope to Kepler-16 to show the credibility of our radial-velocity methods.”
Dr. Isabelle Boisse, likewise from Aix-Marseille University, is the scientist in charge of the SOPHIE instrument that was utilized to collect the data. She stated: “Our discovery reveals how ground-based telescopes stay entirely relevant to contemporary exoplanet research and can be utilized for interesting brand-new projects. Having actually shown we can spot Kepler-16b, we will now analyse information handled numerous other binary star systems, and look for brand-new circumbinary planets.”
See Astronomers Identify Real-Life Planet With Two Suns for more on this research study.
Reference: “BEBOP III. Observations and an independent mass measurement of Kepler-16 (AB) b– the very first circumbinary world found with radial speeds” by Amaury H M J Triaud, Matthew R Standing, Neda Heidari, David V Martin, Isabelle Boisse, Alexandre Santerne, Alexandre C M Correia, Lorena Acuña, Matthew Battley, Xavier Bonfils, Andrés Carmona, Andrew Collier Cameron, Pía Cortés-Zuleta, Georgina Dransfield, Shweta Dalal, Magali Deleuil, Xavier Delfosse, João Faria, Thierry Forveille, Nathan C Hara, Guillaume Hébrard, Sergio Hoyer, Flavien Kiefer, Vedad Kunovac, Pierre F L Maxted, Eder Martioli, Nicola J Miller, Richard P Nelson, Mathilde Poveda, Hanno Rein, Lalitha Sairam, Stéphane Udry and Emma Willett, 25 February 2022, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.DOI: 10.1093/ mnras/stab3712.