A planet at 5,000 light years

2003/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

In January, the planet that has been most detected was presented to the public, ogle-56b. It is estimated to be 2.6 times higher than Jupiter and has a density equivalent to Saturn. Astronomers believe that the temperature of the atmosphere is about 2,300ºC, so only iron clouds are produced. It is 5,000 light-years from us and very close to its star, 14 times closer than the Sun. It has twenty-nine hours to complete an orbit.

To date no planet has been detected orbiting so close to a star, but it has not been the most exciting for astronomers, but how it has been found. In fact, ogle-56b has been the first fruit of a technique that has so far not been successful. The technique is to wait for the planet to pass in front of the star. The planet covers the light of the star as it passes by and astronomers measure the drop in intensity.

This technique is faster than the one used so far in the search for exoplanets and allows to perform searches far beyond 160 light years. With the usual technique about a hundred planets outside the solar system have been detected. But some have announced that the first success of the new technique will bring many more in a short time.