Madrid /
Kartik Pinglé, 16, and Jasmine Wright, 18, co-wrote a paper in The Astronomical Journal about him discovery of 4 new exoplanets 200 light years from our window, exhibiting features similar to Neptune and Earth; maybe be the youngest people to make such a discovery.
American high school students participated in the study through the Research Student Mentor Program (SRMP) at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, which was led by astrochemist Clara Sousa-Silva. world scientists at Harvard and MIT.
“It’s a steep learning curve,” says Sousa-Silva, but it’s worth it. “By the end of the program, students will be able to say that they have done active and groundbreaking research in astrophysics.”
The special achievement of Pinglé and Wright is rare. High school students rarely publish research, Sousa-Silva says. “While that is one of the goals of the SRMP, it is highly unusual for high school students to be co-authors of magazine articles.” They may be the youngest astronomers to make a discovery so far.
How did the young people discover the planets?
Under the guidance of mentor Tansu Daylan, a postdoctoral fellow at MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, the students studied and analyzed data from the Transit Exoplanet 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 feel if the planets orbiting the star, they zoomed in on the light from TOI-1233.
“We were looking for changes in the light over time,” explains Pinglé. “The idea is that if the planet passes or passes in front of the star, [periódicamente] it would cover the star and reduce its brightness. “
To the surprise of the team, they discovered not one but four planets orbiting TOI-1233.
“I was very excited and very surprised,” said Wright. “We knew this was the purpose of Daylan’s research, but it was really cool to find a multiplanetary system and be part of the discovery team.”
Planets similar to the solar system
Three of the planets are considered “sub-neptunes,” gaseous planets that are smaller, but similar to Neptune in our own solar system. Each of them takes between 6 and 19.5 days to orbit TOI-1233.
The fourth planet is called a “super Earth” because of its large size and rocky character; it orbits the star in just under four days.
LNB