Madrid /
Kartik Pingle, 16, and Jasmine Wright, 18, co-authored an article in The Astronomical Journal on the discovery of 4 new exoplanets 200 light years from our paneta, Which have similar characteristics to Neptune and Earth; being perhaps younger people to make such a discovery.
U.S. high school students participated in the research through the Student Research Mentoring Program (SRMP) at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, which led by astrochemist Clara Sousa-Silva, the SRMP connects to local high school students who are interested in researching with real-world scientists at Harvard and MIT.
“It’s a steep learning curve,” Sousa-Silva says, but it’s worth it. “At the end of the program, students can say they have done active, cutting-edge research in astrophysics.”
Pingle and Wright’s particular achievement is rare. High school students rarely post research, Sousa-Silva says. “While this is one of the goals of the SRMP, it is very unusual for high school students to be co-authors of journal articles.” They may be the youngest astronomers to make a discovery so far.
How did young people discover the planets?
Under the guidance of mentor Tansu Daylan, 1 postdoctoral fellow at MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, students studied and analyzed data from the Exoplanet in Study Satellite (TESS). ). TESS explores nearby bright stars with the ultimate goal of discovering new planets.
The team focused on TESS Object of Interest (TOI) 1233, a nearby, bright star similar to the Sun. To perceive whether the planets were orbiting the star, they approached the light of TOI-1233.
“We were looking to see changes in light over time,” Pingle explains. “The idea is that if the planet passes the star, or passes in front of it, [periódicamente] it would cover the star and diminish its brightness. “
To the team’s surprise, they discovered not one but four planets orbiting TOI-1233.
“I was very excited and very surprised,” Wright says. “We knew this was the goal of Daylan’s research, but finding a multiplanetary system and being part of the discovery team was really great.”
Planets similar to the solar system
Three of the planets are considered “subneptunes,” gaseous planets that are smaller but similar to Neptune in our own solar system. Each takes between 6 and 19.5 days to orbit around TOI-1233.
The fourth planet is labeled a “super-Earth” for its large size and rockiness; it orbits the star in just under four days.
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