Complutense scientists have found an exoplanet orbiting the star Barnard

Using Very Large Telescope (VLT) belonging European Southern Observatory (ESO)an international group of astronomers with the participation of Spain Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islandsbelonging CSIC And Complutense University among other things he discovered exoplanet which revolves around Barnard’s Starstar closest to our sunas published in “Astronomy and astrophysics”.

This newly discovered exoplanet has at least half the mass Venusa year lasts a little more three earth days. The team’s observations also indicate the existence of three other exoplanet candidates in different orbits around the star.

Located just six light years away, Barnard’s Star It is the second closest star system (after the three-star group Alpha Centauri) and the closest individual star to us. Because of its proximity, it is a prime target in the search for Earth-like exoplanets. Despite promising findings in 2018Until now, the presence of planets orbiting Barnard’s star has not been confirmed.

The discovery of this new exoplanet is the result of observations made over the past five years using ESO VLTlocated in Paranal Observatory in Chile. “Even though it took us a long time, we were always confident that we could find something,” he says. Jonay Gonzalez Hernandezresearcher Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands in Spain and the main author of the article.

Star Barnard

The team looked for signs of possible exoplanets inside living area or a moderate, like Barnard’s Star, range in which liquid water can exist on a planet’s surface. red dwarfs such as Barnard’s Star are often the focus of astronomers because rocky, low-mass planets are easier to detect there than around larger stars like the Sun.

“Barnard B.”as the newly discovered exoplanet is named, is twenty times closer to Barnard’s star than Mercury of the Sun. It orbits its star in 3.15 Earth days and has a surface temperature of about 125°С. “Barnard b is one of the lowest mass exoplanets known and one of the few known with a mass less than Earth. But the planet is too close to its parent star, closer than the habitable zone,” he explains. Gonzalez Hernandez. “Even though the star is about 2,500 degrees cooler than our Sun, it is too hot to support liquid water on the surface.”

For their observations, the team used ESPRESSOhigh-precision instrument designed to measure star wobble caused by the gravitational pull of one or more orbiting planets. The results obtained were confirmed by data from other instruments also specializing in the search for exoplanets: HARP in this ESO La Silla Observatory, HARPS-N And CARMENS. However, the new data does not confirm the existence of the exoplanet reported in 2018.

In addition, evidence was found of other three exoplanet candidates orbiting the same star. However, these candidates will require additional observations with ESPRESSO to be confirmed. “We now need to continue observing this star to confirm the signals of other candidates,” he says. Alejandro Suarez Mascarenoresearcher also Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands and co-author of the study. “But the discovery of this planet, along with other previous discoveries such as Proxima b And dshows that our cosmic yard is full of low-mass planets.”

He Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) The ESO currently under construction will revolutionize exoplanet research. Tool ANDES The ELT will allow them to detect more small rocky planets around nearby stars, beyond the reach of modern telescopes, and allow them to study composition of their atmospheres.