More than 5000 extrasolar planets have been confirmed in over 3000 planetary systems.
Astronomers have been given a detailed sample of the types of planets that exist in our Universe, ranging from gas giants several times the size of Jupiter to smaller, rocky bodies.
The majority of these have been discovered using indirect methods, such as theTransit Photometry and theDoppler Spectroscopy, while the rest have been detected using other methods.
An international team of scientists used the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array network to find a Jupiter-like planet in a system about 20 light-years away.
Using a method known as Astrometry, the team was able to detect this planet by the "wobble" it makes. This method allowed the team to create the first 3-dimensional architecture of a system and a planet that are both in the same star system.
The leader of the research team was a researcher at the UNAM. They were joined by colleagues from the UNAM and researchers from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
The paper about their research was published in The Astronomical Journal.
Two red dwarf stars are in the system that is being studied. The larger of the two is 44 percent larger than our Sun and the smaller is 17 percent larger.
The two planets are separated by a distance between Neptune and the Sun and have an orbital period of 229 years. The 3D mapping they did could not be done with other methods.
Being able to understand systems like this one will help us understand planet formation as a whole.
Red dwarf stars are the most common in the Universe, accounting for 75% of stars in the Milky Way.
The stars can stay in their main sequence stage for up to 10 trillion years and are notable for supporting smaller rocky planets such as Proxima b and d.
VLBA data was combined with observations made of the system between 1941 and 2017.
Over time, the stars' positions were accurately measured by the VLBA's ten telescopes.
They analyzed the data to reveal the stars' motions through space. Astrometry is the measurement of the position and motion of stars.
Their detailed assessment of the larger star's motion showed a slight wobble, which was caused by a gravity effect on the star. The team calculated that the planet is roughly twice the mass of Jupiter.
It's parent star is slightly less distant than that of Venus, and it has an orbital period of nearly 300 days.
The planet moves around the main star in the opposite direction to the secondary star.
This is the first time that such a structure has been seen in a planet that was formed in the same disk.
The planned Next Generation Very Large array will benefit from the use of the Astrometric technique.
There will be an array of 19 6-meter (20-foot) dishes at the center of the telescope that will cover a distance of 8,860 km.
Astronomers will be able to detect smaller rocky planets that are more similar to Earth. The co-author of the book is a UNAM employee.
"Additional detailed studies of this and similar systems can help us gain important insights into how planets are formed in binary systems. There are alternate theories for the formation mechanism, and more data can possibly indicate which is most likely.
In particular, current models indicate that such a large planet is very unlikely as a companion to such a small star, so maybe those models need to be adjusted."
This article was published in the past. The original article is worth a read.
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