The European Space Agency's (ESA) exoplanet-hunting Cheops satellite has found a third planet in a star system previously believed to have only two planets. The third planet, discovered in a unique photobomb, appears to contain large amounts of water clouds.
Astronomers came across the third planet as it moved across the star revealing details of a rare planet “with no known equivalent.” This is the first time that an exoplanet with an orbit of over 100 days has been spotted transiting a star that is bright enough to be visible to the naked eye.
The star system dubbed Nu2 Lupi is located just under 50 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Lupus (the Wolf) and previous observations had shown two planets orbiting it. The star was named A and the two planets were denoted as planet b and planet c. The newest addition is named Planet d.
The exoplanets have masses between those of Earth and Neptune and orbits lasting 11.6, 27.6 and 107.6 days around the star. "Transiting systems such as Nu2 Lupi are of paramount importance in our understanding of how planets form and evolve, as we can compare several planets around the same bright star in detail," ESA quoted the lead author of the study Laetitia Delrez of the University of Liège, Belgium as saying.
UNDERSTANDING THE UNIQUE SYSTEM
The newly found planet is unique when it comes to exoplanets with a radius spanning 2.5 times that of Earth and a mass of 8.8 times that of our planet. The amount of stellar radiation (solar radiation) reaching planet d is also mild in comparison to many other discovered exoplanets. Researchers believe that if placed in our solar system, it would be in the orbit between Mercury and Venus.
Researchers found planet b to be mainly rocky, while planets c and d appear to contain large amounts of water. "Planets c and d contain far more water than Earth: a quarter of each planet’s mass is made up of water... This water, however, is not liquid, instead in the form of high-pressure ice or high-temperature steam," ESA said in a statement.
Talking about habitable conditions, ESA Cheops project scientist Kate Isaak said that while none of these planets would be habitable, their diversity makes the system even more exciting, and a great future prospect for testing how these bodies form and change over time.
Researchers studied the data compiled over six observations between April and 6 July 2020 targeting four transits of planet b and three of planet c.
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