08-21-2019, 11:48 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-21-2019, 11:48 PM by The Astronomer.)
I'm thinking of turning this thread into exoplanet discoveries and updates announcement article. Is it possible to rename it to 'Exoplanet Discoveries and Updates Thread' or something like that and move it to Real Life But OA Relevant?
Anyways, let's start with the discovery from 13 August 2019: Gliese 1061. The discovery was announced by Red Dots project, which is a continuation of the Pale Red Dot project, which was initiated to confirm the existence of Proxima Centauri b.
The star, Gliese 1061, is an M5.5V star, with a surface temperature of 2953 K. Its luminosity is mere 0.0017 Sol. It rotates slowly, taking ~130 days to rotate once, and combined with its age of over 7 billion years mean that it has a MUCH lower activity than Proxima Centauri, which is good news.
This system was announced to contain three worlds:
Gliese 1061 b
- semi-major axis: 0.021 AU
- orbital period: 3.204 days
- minimum mass: 1.38 Earths
Gliese 1061 c
- semi-major axis: 0.035 AU
- orbital period: 6.689 days
- minimum mass: 1.75 Earths
Gliese 1061 d
- semi-major axis: 0.054 AU
- orbital period: 13.031 days
- minimum mass: 1.68 Earths
According to Drew Ex Machina's analysis, both three worlds are more likely to be terrestrial, but without knowing what the exact mass of these worlds, it's kinda hard to say.
Next, irradiance. Drew Ex Machina's article suggests that the first two worlds likely received too much sunlight, and are likely experienced runaway greenhouse effect, turning them into Venuslike worlds. The third world, Gliese 1061 d, is more promising and may be either an ocean planet, an ice planet, or an Earthlike world of a sort. However, there is a chance that the planet has been desiccated during the early era. If so, the planet could've turned into a Venusian world.
Other factors include radiation, which seems to not be as much of a problem as worlds around Proxima Centauri, and tidal heating caused by gravitational interaction with the host star and its neighbors, which could create spectacular geysers on Gliese 1061 d, or simply turn it into a volcanic world.
It is important to note that the star's low temperature could mean its planets have too much carbon monoxide in their atmospheres for human habitation.
Anyways, let's start with the discovery from 13 August 2019: Gliese 1061. The discovery was announced by Red Dots project, which is a continuation of the Pale Red Dot project, which was initiated to confirm the existence of Proxima Centauri b.
The star, Gliese 1061, is an M5.5V star, with a surface temperature of 2953 K. Its luminosity is mere 0.0017 Sol. It rotates slowly, taking ~130 days to rotate once, and combined with its age of over 7 billion years mean that it has a MUCH lower activity than Proxima Centauri, which is good news.
This system was announced to contain three worlds:
Gliese 1061 b
- semi-major axis: 0.021 AU
- orbital period: 3.204 days
- minimum mass: 1.38 Earths
Gliese 1061 c
- semi-major axis: 0.035 AU
- orbital period: 6.689 days
- minimum mass: 1.75 Earths
Gliese 1061 d
- semi-major axis: 0.054 AU
- orbital period: 13.031 days
- minimum mass: 1.68 Earths
According to Drew Ex Machina's analysis, both three worlds are more likely to be terrestrial, but without knowing what the exact mass of these worlds, it's kinda hard to say.
Next, irradiance. Drew Ex Machina's article suggests that the first two worlds likely received too much sunlight, and are likely experienced runaway greenhouse effect, turning them into Venuslike worlds. The third world, Gliese 1061 d, is more promising and may be either an ocean planet, an ice planet, or an Earthlike world of a sort. However, there is a chance that the planet has been desiccated during the early era. If so, the planet could've turned into a Venusian world.
Other factors include radiation, which seems to not be as much of a problem as worlds around Proxima Centauri, and tidal heating caused by gravitational interaction with the host star and its neighbors, which could create spectacular geysers on Gliese 1061 d, or simply turn it into a volcanic world.
It is important to note that the star's low temperature could mean its planets have too much carbon monoxide in their atmospheres for human habitation.