Astronomers have detected and directly photographed a gas giant orbiting another star by combining different techniques to find exoplanets: is about HIP 99770B, which is 15 times the mass of Jupiter.
According to a report published in Spacethe researchers first looked at a catalog of combined star mapping data from Gaia from the European Space Agency (ESA) and older Hipparcos missions to identify stars that, based on their apparent motions or wobbles, are they are likely to be in orbit around giant stars and therefore potentially visible.
The international team of scientists then used Japan’s Subaru Telescope National Astronomical Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Observations using the telescope’s coronagraphic adaptive optics and spectrograph instruments in July and September 2020 and May and October 2021 led to the discovery of the exoplanet HIP 99770B.
HIP 99770B is a gas giant planet approximately 15 times the mass of Jupiter. orbiting the star HIP 99770, which is about twice the mass of our Sun.
great find
The images provide information such as the composition of the atmospheres around the planets and their temperatures. But actually finding planets this way is very difficult, as it represents only a handful of exoplanet discoveries.
However, using star mapping data means astronomers know exactly where to look with the telescope’s follow-up observations. This approach could lead to more direct imaging exoplanet discoveries.which could include Earth-like planets, the scientists said.
Lead study author Thayne Currie, who works at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan in Hilo, Hawaii and at the University of San Antonio Texas, said in a ESA statement: “This is kind of a test for the kind of strategy we need to be able to image the Earth.”.
“It shows that an indirect method sensitive to a planet’s gravitational pull can tell you where to look and exactly when to look for direct images. So I think that’s really exciting.”.
