Indian scientists discover alien planet 13 times bigger than Jupiter. This is the third exoplanet to have been discovered from India, and by the PRL scientists.
An international team of scientists led by Professor Abhijit Chakraborty of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad has discovered the densest alien planet, which is 13 times bigger than Jupiter.
The details of the finding have been published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters.
The team, including scientists from India, Germany, Switzerland, and the USA, used the indigenous PRL Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search spectrograph (PARAS) at the Gurushikhar Observatory in Mt. Abu to measure the mass of the planet precisely. The exoplanet has a mass of 14 g/cm3.
The newly discovered planet orbits a star called TOI4603 or HD 245134, and Nasa’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) had initially declared the star as a possible candidate to host a secondary body of unknown nature. The body has now been confirmed to be a planet and has been named TOI 4603b or HD 245134b.
The newly discovered planet orbits a star called TOI4603 or HD 245134, and Nasa’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) had initially declared the star as a possible candidate to host a secondary body of unknown nature. The body has now been confirmed to be a planet and has been named TOI 4603b or HD 245134b.
The planet is located 731 light years away from Earth and orbits its star every 7.24 days. The planet is raging hot with a temperature of 1396 degrees Celsius.
While the quest for life beyond Earth continues, scientists have identified over 5,000 exoplanets beyond the solar system with varying natures, features, and atmospheres.
The recently discovered exoplanet TOI 4603b is one of the most massive and dense giant planets, orbiting its home star at a distance less than one-tenth that of our Sun.
“The detection of such systems provides valuable insights into the formation, migration, and evolution mechanisms of massive exoplanets,” ISRO said.