. 24/7 Space News .
EXO WORLDS
Sub-Neptune sized planet validated with the habitable-zone planet finder
by Staff Writers
University Park PA (SPX) Feb 21, 2020

File illustration

A signal originally detected by the Kepler spacecraft has been validated as an exoplanet using the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF), an astronomical spectrograph built by a Penn State team and recently installed on the 10m Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory in Texas.

The HPF provides the highest precision measurements to date of infrared signals from nearby low-mass stars, and astronomers used it to validate the candidate planet by excluding all possibilities of contaminating signals to very high level of probability. The details of the findings appear in the Astronomical Journal.

The planet, called G 9-40b, is about twice the size of the Earth, but likely closer in size to Neptune, and orbits its low mass host star, an M dwarf star, only 100 light years from Earth. Kepler detected the planet by observing a dip in the host star's light as the planet crossed in front of--or transited--the star during its orbit, a trip completed every six Earth days.

This signal was then validated using precision spectroscopic observations from the HPF, ruling out the possibility of a close stellar or substellar binary companion. Observations from other telescopes, including the 3.5m telescope at Apache Point Observatory and the 3m Shane Telescope at Lick Observatory, helped to confirm the identification.

"G 9-40b is amongst the top twenty closest transiting planets known, which makes this discovery really exciting," said Guomundur Stefansson, lead author of the paper, and a former PhD student at Penn State who is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University. "Further, due to its large transit depth, G 9-40b is an excellent candidate exoplanet to study its atmospheric composition with future space telescopes."

"The spectroscopic observations from HPF allowed us to place an upper bound of 12 Earth masses on the mass of the planet," said Caleb Canas, a graduate student at Penn State and an author of the paper. "This demonstrates that a planet is causing the dips in light from the host star, rather than another astrophysical object such as a background star. We hope to obtain more observations with HPF to precisely measure its mass, which will allow us to constrain its bulk composition and differentiate between a predominantly rocky or gas-rich composition."

HPF was delivered to the 10m Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory in late 2017 and started full science operations in late 2018. The instrument is designed to detect and characterize planets in the habitable-zone--the region around the star where a planet could sustain liquid water on its surface--around nearby low-mass stars. A unique feature of HPF is its precise spectral calibration with a laser frequency comb built by collaborators at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado Boulder.

"Using HPF, we are currently surveying the nearest low-mass stars--also called M-dwarfs, which are the most common stars in the galaxy--with the goal of discovering exoplanets in our stellar neighborhood," said Suvrath Mahadevan, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State and principal investigator of the HPF spectrograph.

In addition to the data obtained with HPF, the scientists obtained another observation of the transiting planet using the 3.5m telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico using a photometric technique and instrumentation developed as part of Stefansson's doctoral thesis.

These transit observations helped further resolve the "transit shape"--the curve that represents how much of the host planet's light is blocked--resulting in more precise planetary parameters. In addition, high-contrast imaging observations using the 3m Shane Telescope at Lick Observatory showed that the host star was the true source of the transits.

"It is exciting to see this first result of the HPF survey coming out. HPF was built from the ground up to enable precision measurements to discover and confirm planets," said Larry Ramsey, emeritus professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State.

Research paper


Related Links
Penn State
Lands Beyond Beyond - extra solar planets - news and science
Life Beyond Earth


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


EXO WORLDS
LOFAR pioneers new way to study exoplanet environments
Dwingeloo, The Netherlands (SPX) Feb 18, 2020
Using the Dutch-led Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope, astronomers have discovered unusual radio waves coming from the nearby red dwarf star GJ 1151. The radio waves bear the telltale signature of aurorae caused by an interaction between a star and its planet. The radio emission from a star-planet interaction has been predicted for over 30 years, but this is the first time astronomers have been able to discern its signature. This method, only possible with a sensitive radio telescope lik ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



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

EXO WORLDS
Mike Pence Says US to Return Astronauts to Space Using American-Built Rockets Before Summer

Russia's Tikhonov May Be Replaced as Chief of Soyuz MS-16 ISS Mission Over Injury - Source

Adidas, Delta Faucet prep research projects for International Space Station

New adventures in beds and baths for spaceflight

EXO WORLDS
SpaceX announces partnership to send four tourists into deep orbit

Simple, fuel-efficient rocket engine could enable cheaper, lighter spacecraft

SpaceX re-useable rocket misses landing ship

Blue Origin opens Huntsville factory for BE-7 rocket engines

EXO WORLDS
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Undergoes Memory Update

Journey to the center of Mars

NASA adds return sample scientists to Mars 2020 leadership team

Nilosyrtis Mensae - erosion on a large scale

EXO WORLDS
China's Yuanwang-5 sails to Pacific Ocean for space monitoring mission

Construction of China's space station begins with start of LM-5B launch campaign

China Prepares to Launch Unknown Satellite Aboard Long March 7A Rocket

China's Long March-5B carrier rocket arrives at launch site

EXO WORLDS
NASA introduces mission support updates at Marshall Small Business Meeting

Airbus Defence and Space to cut over 2,300 jobs

Kleos Space secures 3M Euro loan agreement with Dubai family office

Understanding the impact of satellite constellations on astronomy

EXO WORLDS
Outer Space Chicken

Exotrail Secures Contract with AAC Clyde Space to equip their customers' spacecrafts

Celestia UK to develop advanced antenna systems with Scottish Enterprise Support

Cracks actually protect historical paintings against environmental fluctuation

EXO WORLDS
New technologies, strategies expanding search for extraterrestrial life

Sub-Neptune sized planet validated with the habitable-zone planet finder

Planet on edge of destruction in 18-hour year frenzy

LOFAR pioneers new way to study exoplanet environments

EXO WORLDS
TRIDENT Mission Concept Selected by NASA's Discovery Program

Findings from Juno Update Jupiter Water Mystery

One Step Closer to the Edge of the Solar System

A close-up of Arrokoth reveals how planetary building blocks were constructed









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - 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. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. 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. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.