Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




EXO WORLDS
Transiting Exoplanet with Longest Known Year
by Staff Writers
Boston MA (SPX) Jul 24, 2014


This artist's conception shows the Uranus-sized exoplanet Kepler-421b, which orbits an orange, type K star about 1,000 light-years from Earth. Kepler-421b is the transiting exoplanet with the longest known year, circling its star once every 704 days. It is located beyond the "snow line" - the dividing line between rocky and gaseous planets - and might have formed in place rather than migrating from a different orbit. Image couresty David A. Aguilar (CfA). For a larger version of this image please go here.

Astronomers have discovered a transiting exoplanet with the longest known year. Kepler-421b circles its star once every 704 days. In comparison, Mars orbits our Sun once every 780 days. Most of the 1,800-plus exoplanets discovered to date are much closer to their stars and have much shorter orbital periods.

"Finding Kepler-421b was a stroke of luck," says lead author David Kipping of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "The farther a planet is from its star, the less likely it is to transit the star from Earth's point of view. It has to line up just right."

Kepler-421b orbits an orange, type K star that is cooler and dimmer than our Sun. It circles the star at a distance of about 110 million miles. As a result, this Uranus-sized planet is chilled to a temperature of -135 Fahrenheit.

As the name implies, Kepler-421b was discovered using data from NASA's Kepler spacecraft.

Kepler was uniquely suited to make this discovery. The spacecraft stared at the same patch of sky for 4 years, watching for stars that dim as planets cross in front of them.

No other existing or planned mission shows such long-term, dedicated focus. Despite its patience, Kepler only detected two transits of Kepler-421b due to that world's extremely long orbital period.

The planet's orbit places it beyond the "snow line" - the dividing line between rocky and gas planets. Outside of the snow line, water condenses into ice grains that stick together to build gas giant planets.

"The snow line is a crucial distance in planet formation theory. We think all gas giants must have formed beyond this distance," explains Kipping.

Since gas giant planets can be found extremely close to their stars, in orbits lasting days or even hours, theorists believe that many exoplanets migrate inward early in their history.

Kepler-421b shows that such migration isn't necessary. It could have formed right where we see it now.

"This is the first example of a potentially non-migrating gas giant in a transiting system that we've found," adds Kipping.

The host star, Kepler-421, is located about 1,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Lyra.

.


Related Links
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA)
Lands Beyond Beyond - extra solar planets - news and science
Life Beyond Earth






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





EXO WORLDS
NASA Mission To Reap Bonanza of Earth-sized Planets
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 21, 2014
Set to launch in 2017, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will monitor more than half a million stars over its two-year mission, with a focus on the smallest, brightest stellar objects. During its observations, TESS is expected to find more than 3,000 new planets outside of our solar system, most of which will be possible for ground-based telescopes to observe."Bright host ... read more


EXO WORLDS
Lunar Pits Could Shelter Astronauts, Reveal Details of How 'Man in the Moon' Formed

Manned mission to Moon scheduled by Roscosmos for 2020-2031

Landsat Looks to the Moon

Sky-gazers can expect one 'Supermoon' per month for the next three months

EXO WORLDS
Scientists release most thorough map yet of Mars

India could return to Mars as early as 2017

Curiosity's images show Earth-like soils on Mars

NASA Rover's Images Show Laser Flash on Martian Rock

EXO WORLDS
NASA names Kennedy Space Center building for Neil Armstrong

SSERVI: Serving NASA's Mission to the Moon and Beyond, Part 2

NASA Announces Early Career Faculty Space Tech Research Grants

SSERVI: Serving NASA's Mission to the Moon and Beyond, Part 1

EXO WORLDS
Lunar rock collisions behind Yutu damage

China's Fast Track To Circumlunar Mission

Chinese moon rover designer shooting for Mars

Yutu designer's bittersweet

EXO WORLDS
Next ISS Cargo Spacecraft Rolls Out to Pad

Russian cargo craft docks with ISS, science satellite fails

Lockheed provides support services for ISS program

Russian Resupply Spacecraft to Deliver Snails to ISS for Experiments

EXO WORLDS
SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 Flights Deemed Successful

ISS 'space truck' launch postponed: Arianespace

45th Space Wing launches 6 second-generation ORBCOMM satellites

First Launch of Proton After Crash Scheduled for September 28

EXO WORLDS
Brown Dwarfs May Wreak Havoc on Orbits of Nearby Planets

NASA Mission To Reap Bonanza of Earth-sized Planets

Friction from Tides Could Help Distant Earths Survive, and Thrive

Newfound Frozen World Orbits in Binary Star System

EXO WORLDS
Researchers crush diamond with biggest laser in world

New UV laser capabilities being developed for Army

Virtual finger enables scientists to navigate and analyze complex 3D images

New material puts a twist in light




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.