Researchers discover new planet in neighboring solar system
Published: Tuesday, Oct 1st 2024, 15:20
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A research team with Swiss participation has discovered a new planet. It orbits the star Barnard, which is one of the closest stars to us at a distance of around six light years from the sun.
The discovery, which was published on Tuesday in the journal "Astronomy and Astrophysics", is the result of four years of observations with the Espresso instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in the Atacama Desert in Chile, according to a statement from the University of Bern on Tuesday.
According to the ESO, the team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which included researchers from the Universities of Bern and Geneva, was searching for signals from exoplanets located in the so-called habitable zone of Barnard's Star. This is the area in which water can exist in a liquid state on the planet's surface. This condition is considered essential for the development of life.
Not habitable
However, this is not the case with "Barnard b", as the new exoplanet has been christened: its surface is 125 degrees Celsius hot.
According to the researchers at the University of Bern, the discovery is nevertheless significant. "The discovery of Barnard b is important not only because it is one of the smallest exoplanets we have discovered so far, but also because it is located in our stellar neighborhood," said Yann Alibert, Co-Director of the Centre for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern, in the press release. "This gives us the unique opportunity to study planets in our vicinity and to better understand their formation and movement within a planetary system."
©Keystone/SDA
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