Sky and Telescope article featuring the work of Herts' astronomersĪs a result of the ESO campaign, the University of Hertfordshire’s Bayfordbury Observatory now has a major monitoring programme aimed at other nearby stars and exoplanets. The findings were later published in the science journal Nature and widely covered by international media. Throughout the project, the team reported the progress of their observations in real time via a website and social media. This established Proxima b as the closest possible home for life outside our Solar System. University of Hertfordshire researchers Dr John Barnes, now at the Open University, and Dr James Jenkins, now at the University of Chile, were able to confirm that the ‘wobble’ being detected was caused by a planet orbiting within a zone where water could exist. To exclude this possibility, the team also monitored closely the changing brightness of the star. Cool or ‘red dwarf’ stars such as Proxima Centauri are slightly active and can vary in ways that could mimic the presence of a planet. The astronomers looked for a tiny ‘wobble’ of the star that would be caused by the gravitational pull of a possible orbiting planet. "If further research concludes that the conditions of atmosphere are suitable to support life, this is arguably one of the most important scientific discoveries we will ever make." His Hertfordshire team worked as part of a European Southern Observatory (ESO) project, The Pale Red Dot, which co-ordinated the efforts of more than 30 scientists from eight different countries across three continents. This included a series of major observing campaigns, led by Dr Guillem Anglada-Escudé. The momentous discovery of Proxima b was the culmination of many years of observation by an international team of scientists, with key involvement of astronomers from the University’s Centre for Astrophysical Research. Hidden by the bright glare of the stars they orbit, exoplanets are hard to see directly with telescopes. Planets that orbit around stars outside our Solar System are known as ‘exoplanets’. This exciting possibility, as well as its closeness to us – just four light years away – makes Proxima b a prime target should mankind ever develop the technologies to travel to a planet outside our Solar System. The planet is in Proxima Centauri’s ‘habitable zone’, which means it is at a distance from the star which allows temperatures mild enough for liquid water and is therefore potentially capable of supporting life. Proxima b is a rocky, roughly Earth-sized, planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, part of a trio of stars in our neighbouring solar system of Alpha Centauri, and the closest star to our Sun. These two planets are believed to be tidally locked, meaning one side is always facing their sun, like the Moon does with the Earth.“The discovery of Proxima b is another significant step forward for our understanding and knowledge of space and testament to the hard work and scientific endeavour of UK institutions who are making discoveries that could change lives and inspire millions around the world.” The innermost planet, TOI 700 b, orbits the star every 10 days, while TOI 700 c does so every 16 days. TOI 700 d also orbits in the habitable zone. Planet e is about 10% smaller than planet d, so the system also shows how additional TESS observations help us find smaller and smaller worlds.” “That makes the TOI 700 system an exciting prospect for additional follow up. “This is one of only a few systems with multiple, small, habitable-zone planets that we know of,” said Emily Gilbert, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California who led the work. “But the signal was so faint that we needed the additional year of transit observations to identify it.” “If the star was a little closer or the planet a little bigger, we might have been able to spot TOI 700 e in the first year of TESS data,” said Ben Hord, a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park and a graduate researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
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