An artist’s impression of HD 26965b and its star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.
Posted on 08/02/2018 1:53:13 PM PDT by ETL
Designated HD 26965b, the newly-detected alien world has a mass of 8.47 Earth masses and is located a mere 16 light-years away.
This planet revolves around the bright K-class dwarf star HD 26965 once every 42.4 days.
The host star is approximately 6.9 billion years old, has a mass about 78% of the Sun’s and a radius 87% as large.
“HD 26965 is the primary of a very widely separated triple system. The other two companions are an M4 dwarf and a white dwarf,” said University of Florida astronomer Bo Ma and co-authors.
“This star is a very bright metal poor star with an absolute magnitude of V=4.4. This makes it the second brightest star in the night sky with a super-Earth detection so far, just behind HD 20794 (V=4.3).”
“One interesting fact is that HD 20794 has a similar metallicity as HD 26965, which is consistent with the finding that smaller planets are detected around stars with wide-ranging metallicities.”
“With a minimum mass of 8.4 Earth masses, HD 26965b likely possesses a gaseous atmosphere based on other planets with known masses and radii,” they added.
“However, we note that Kepler-10c has a similar mass and orbit, is hosted by a similar, low-metallicity star, and does not possess an envelope, so HD 26965b may be a similar type of world.”
HD 26965b was found using the ‘wobble’ method, called radial velocity, by the Dharma Planet Survey (DPS).
This method watches for the telltale jitters of stars as they are pulled back and forth by the gravitational tugs of an orbiting planet; the size of the wobble reveals the mass of the planet.
(Excerpt) Read more at sci-news.com ...
This is a small I’ve fallen and I can’t get up for man,
and a giant I’ve fallen and I can’t get up for mankind.
“A mere 16 light years away”. Means we will NEVER be where it is.
Too bad the artist did not have a sense of humor and put a face on it.
Click bait using “super Earth” with very unscientific methods to say it.
cmon, it is only 93,851,136,000,000 miles away
Well.... when you put it that way.....
“Means we will NEVER be where it is.”
Yeah, and those idiots with their so-called ‘flying machines’ will NEVER get off the ground. Lord Kelvin said so and he’s an EXPERT!
“Just 16 light years away”. Does the author have any idea of the actual distance and the fact that the methodology that “discovers” these planets is at best unproven.
Waiting for the government to say..
“It’s a rock... no indigenous life” -Aliens
The eight times gravity worries me more.
8x mass. I think I’ll stay at 1 G
8 and a half goes, yes that earth like if you dont mind weighing a half ton and dying in 30 seconds. Worth a couple century trip...
So, the data result is dependent on the how much was in the Big Gulp drink, when the astronomer put it down on the nearby table. A more or less full Big Gulp would result in a bigger planet mass.
So, you can see, the mass is dependent on the thirst level of the astronomer.
And only 8.5 times the mass.
You’re average supermodel would experience the same gravity as an 850 pound man. (I think).
Just an FYI...a light year is 5,880,000,000,000 miles.
As the 'crow flies' yes, but if space and time are truly 'bendable', then we might.
And it’s all up hill. If start walking today...
“A mere 16 light years away”.
One light year, the distance light travels in a year, at its speed of 186,000 miles per second, works out to about 5.9 TRILLION miles.
There is no such “thing” as time. It is not bendable. Time is a perception. While our perception may be bent or manipulated it does not shorten a distance.
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