Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
KUNMING, June 7 (Xinhua) — Chinese and German astronomers recently announced the discovery of an exoplanet in the habitable zone, meaning its surface temperature allows liquid water to exist, the Yunnan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said.
Studies of Earth-like exoplanets are conducted based on several physical factors, including size, mass, surface temperature, etc., that influence the habitability of the planet.
The newly discovered celestial body orbits the central star Kepler-725, which is 2,472 light years from the solar system. Scientists estimate that Kepler-725, which is much younger than the Sun, has only existed for 1.6 billion years. As a result, more violent activity is observed on the surface of the star.
The discovered planet’s rotation period around its host star is about 207.5 days, which is relatively close to the Earth’s rotation period. Its mass is 10 times greater than that of our planet.
There are currently 5,912 confirmed planets outside the Solar System. Very few of these are classified as planets that have physical factors that make them habitable.
Many methods have been developed to search for exoplanets. The most productive of these are considered to be the methods of astrometric measurements and passages /transits/. The first method involves attempts to register the periodic displacement of stars on the celestial sphere under the influence of planets orbiting them, and the second uses the effect of weakening the visible brightness of a star when an exoplanet passes in front of it.
However, the limitations of these two methods are obvious. They make it extremely difficult to detect Earth-sized exoplanets due to their relatively small size and the great distance from the stars they orbit.
Sun Leilei, a researcher at the Yunnan Observatory, said the exoplanet was found using the Transit Timing Variation (TTV) method.
The TTV method is based on determining the start time of a known exoplanet’s transit and deducing whether its transit occurs with strict periodicity or whether there are some deviations. In other words, the researchers managed to “indirectly” prove the existence of a previously unknown celestial body in the Kepler-725 planetary system.
Thus, astronomers have discovered for the first time an exoplanet located in the habitable zone. The results of their research were published in the prestigious international scientific journal Nature Astronomy on June 3.
The question of the existence of life on the discovered exoplanet remains open. -0-