Nota de prensa
OBSERVATORIO LA SILLA ENCONTRÓ EXOPLANETA DEL TAMAÑO DE NEPTUNO
30 de Noviembre de 2005
Astrónomos franceses y suizos descubrieron uno de los planetas extrasolares más ligeros que se conocen usando el instrumento HARPS del telescopio de 3,6 metros de ESO en La Silla, IV Región.
La precisión del instrumento HARPS, instalado en el telescopio de 3,6 metros de ESO en La Silla (IV Región), permitió a un grupo de astrónomos franceses y suizos descubrir un planeta que tiene una masa similar a la de Neptuno, es decir, 17 veces la masa de la Tierra.
De los 170 exoplanetas que se conoce hasta ahora, sólo cinco serían menos masivos que este nuevo planeta encontrado alrededor de una enana roja, un tipo de estrella muy común en nuestro universo.
“Nuestro descubrimiento puede significar que los planetas son bastante frecuentes en estrellas pequeñas”, explica Xavier Delfosse, miembro del Laboratorio de Astrofísica de Grenoble (Francia) y co-autor del artículo. “Ciertamente esto nos dice que las enanas rojas son objetivos fundamentales en la búsqueda de exoplanetas”.
La enana roja G1 581, que alberga al nuevo planeta, está situada a 20,5 años luz, en la constelación del Libra, y posee un tercio de la masa del Sol. Esta clase de estrellas son 50 veces más débiles que nuestro astro y las más comunes en nuestra Galaxia: de 100 estrellas cercanas al Sol, 80 son enanas rojas. Por esto resulta fundamental saber si albergan planetas.
Hasta ahora la búsqueda había sido infructuosa. De las 200 enanas rojas estudiadas, sólo 2 han revelado la presencia de exoplanetas.
“Sin embargo, los rastreos anteriores pudieron haber fallado debido a su relativamente baja precisión”, asegura Stéphane Udry, miembro del Observatorio de Ginebra y co-autor del artículo. “Por eso decidimos usar el espectrógrafo ultra preciso HARPS. Nuestros resultados confirman que fue la estrategia correcta”.
Con HARPS, los astrónomos fueron capaces de detectar que la enana roja se movía levemente de un lado a otro, a una velocidad máxima de 50 kilómetros por hora. Finalmente se comprobó que esta oscilación era causada por un pequeño planeta que orbita a tan sólo 6 millones de kilómetros, por lo que su temperatura externa podría alcanzar los 150 °C.
Al estar tan cerca de su estrella, tarda sólo 5,4 días en completar su órbita, mientras que Mercurio, el planeta más cercano al Sol, se encuentra a 58 millones de kilómetros de distancia y demora 88 días en dar una vuelta completa.
Contactos
Xavier Delfosse
LAOG
Grenoble, France
Teléfono: +33 (0) 476 63 55 10
Correo electrónico: Xavier.Delfosse@obs-ujf-grenoble.fr
Stéphane Udry
Geneva Observatory
Geneva, Switzerland
Teléfono: +41 22 755 26 11
Correo electrónico: Stephane.Udry@obs.unige.ch
Francisco Rodríguez (Contacto para medios de comunicación en Chile)
Red de Difusión Científica de ESO
y European Southern Observatory
Teléfono: +56-2-463-3151
Correo electrónico: eson-chile@eso.org
Acerca de la nota de prensa
| Nota de prensa No.: | eso0539es-cl |
| Legacy ID: | PR 30/05 |
| Nombre: | Gliese 581 |
| Tipo: | Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Planetary System |
| Facility: | ESO 3.6-metre telescope |
| Instruments: | HARPS |
| Science data: | 2005A&A...443L..15B |
Imágenes
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