Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Jun 22, 2019 14:02:43 GMT 2
(#201).- Proxima b, l’exoplanète la plus proche, n’est probablement pas seule.
Proxima b, the closest exoplanet, is probably not alone.
By Tristan Vey - Pubié the 03/11/2017 at 17: 07
The discovery of one or two rings of dust around the star Proxima Centauri betray the presence of other planets, hidden.
How many planets orbit around Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Sun? At least one, that's for sure. Detected in 2016, Proxima b is a small rocky planet orbiting very close to its star (it is 20 times closer to the red dwarf than the Earth of the Sun, it does the trick in just 11 days). New observations made using the largest radio telescope network in the world, Alma, nevertheless suggest that it would not be alone ...
Astronomers have not (yet) detected a new exoplanet, but a ring of cold dust located hundreds of times further. "This is a very strong indication of the presence of other planets," says Julien Morin, astronomer at the laboratory Univers and Particles of the University of Montpellier.
Indeed, we find in the Solar System a similar wreath of debris between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It would be the gravitational influence of the giant planets, Jupiter in particular, that would prevent these dusts from growing to form a single body. A similar scenario, which remains to be established, could explain the presence of this ring around Proxima Centauri. Future modeling could predict what kind of planetary system could produce such a structure.
A solar system in miniature?
Astronomers estimate that the mass of this ring is of the order of one hundredth of that of the Earth. It would consist of pieces of rock and ice whose size could vary between a few millimeters and a few tens of kilometers. The temperature of these objects would hardly exceed -230 ° C, temperatures comparable to those found in the solar system in the Kuiper Belt, a cloud of frozen objects whose orbits are beyond Neptune, the planet furthest away from the Sun.
A second ring, even smaller, could encircle Proxima Centauri. It would be ten times further. The signal is still too weak for astronomers to definitively conclude as to the existence of this 2nd ring. Its existence would only reinforce the similarity of this neighboring planetary system with ours. "It would be a sort of model of our solar system," laughs Julien Morin. And his exploration is just beginning.
F I N .
Proxima b, the closest exoplanet, is probably not alone.
By Tristan Vey - Pubié the 03/11/2017 at 17: 07
The discovery of one or two rings of dust around the star Proxima Centauri betray the presence of other planets, hidden.
How many planets orbit around Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Sun? At least one, that's for sure. Detected in 2016, Proxima b is a small rocky planet orbiting very close to its star (it is 20 times closer to the red dwarf than the Earth of the Sun, it does the trick in just 11 days). New observations made using the largest radio telescope network in the world, Alma, nevertheless suggest that it would not be alone ...
Astronomers have not (yet) detected a new exoplanet, but a ring of cold dust located hundreds of times further. "This is a very strong indication of the presence of other planets," says Julien Morin, astronomer at the laboratory Univers and Particles of the University of Montpellier.
Indeed, we find in the Solar System a similar wreath of debris between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It would be the gravitational influence of the giant planets, Jupiter in particular, that would prevent these dusts from growing to form a single body. A similar scenario, which remains to be established, could explain the presence of this ring around Proxima Centauri. Future modeling could predict what kind of planetary system could produce such a structure.
A solar system in miniature?
Astronomers estimate that the mass of this ring is of the order of one hundredth of that of the Earth. It would consist of pieces of rock and ice whose size could vary between a few millimeters and a few tens of kilometers. The temperature of these objects would hardly exceed -230 ° C, temperatures comparable to those found in the solar system in the Kuiper Belt, a cloud of frozen objects whose orbits are beyond Neptune, the planet furthest away from the Sun.
A second ring, even smaller, could encircle Proxima Centauri. It would be ten times further. The signal is still too weak for astronomers to definitively conclude as to the existence of this 2nd ring. Its existence would only reinforce the similarity of this neighboring planetary system with ours. "It would be a sort of model of our solar system," laughs Julien Morin. And his exploration is just beginning.
F I N .
