High school students considered ‘youngest ever astronomers’ find four exoplanets 200 light years away

Two high school students have identified four new exoplanets about 200 light years from Earth and consider them “the youngest astronomers” to make such a discovery.

Kartik Pinglé, 16, and Jasmine Wright, 18, who both attend Massachusetts schools, participated in the Center for Astrophysics’ Student Research Mentoring Program (SRMP) | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA).

Together with the help of Tansu Daylan, a postdoctoral fellow at MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, the students studied and analyzed data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

Together they focused on Tess Object of Interest (TOI) 1233, a nearby bright sun-like star, and here they found four planets revolving around the star.

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Two high school students have identified four new exoplanets about 200 light-years from Earth and consider them “the youngest astronomers” to make such a discovery. Kartik Pinglé (left), 16, and Jasmine Wright (right), 18, both attend Massachusetts schools

“We were looking for changes in the light over time,” explains Pinglé. “The idea is that if the planet passed or passed in front of the star, it would [periodically] cover the star and reduce the brightness. ‘

TESS is a space-based satellite that has discovered more than 20,000 exoplanets – some of which may be super-Earths located in the habitable zone.

While investigating 1233, Pinglé and Wright had hoped to find at least one planet, but were overwhelmed with joy when a total of four were seen.

“I was very excited and very shocked,” said Wright. “We knew this was the purpose of Daylan’s research, but actually finding a multiplanetary system and being part of the discovery team was really cool.”

Together they focused on Tess Object of Interest (TOI) 1233, a nearby bright sun-like star and here they found four planets orbiting around the star. Three of the newly discovered planets are considered ‘sub-Neptunes’ and the fourth is a ‘super Earth’ (artist impression)

Three of the newly discovered planets are considered “sub-Neptune,” which are gaseous, but smaller than Neptune that lives in our solar system.

While the team observed the planets, the team determined that they completed orbit around 1233 every six to 19.5 days around 1233.

However, the fourth planet is labeled a “super Earth” because of its large size and rocky nature – it orbits the star in just under four days.

“Our species has long thought about planets beyond our solar system, and multi-planetary systems kind of hit the jackpot,” Dylan said.

The planets originated from the same disk of matter around the same star, but they ended up being different planets with different atmospheres and different climates because of their different orbits. So we would like to understand the fundamental processes of planet formation and evolution using this planetary system. ‘

TESS is a space-based satellite that has discovered more than 20,000 exoplanets – some of which may be super-Earths located in the habitable zone

Daylan added that it was a ‘win-win’ to work with Pinglé and Wright on the investigation.

‘As a researcher, I really enjoy dealing with young brains that are open to experimentation and learning and with minimal bias,’ he said.

“I also think it is very beneficial for high school students because they are exposed to cutting edge research and this quickly prepares them for a research career.”