By closely examining 51 Eridani b and potential other young Jupiters like this world, researchers hope to be able to learn more about how our own family of planets came into existence and evolved over time. The planet, which scientists have dubbed 51 Eri b, was seen by the Gemini Planet Imager, an instrument that finds planets by analyzing the glow they emit.
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A Jupiter-like planet was spotted by astronomers recently, something that might be holding the answer to how the solar system was formed.
The GPI is installed at the Gemini Observatory in Chile.
The vast majority of solar systems that have been discovered are very different from our own, with massive planets close to their stars, said co-author James Larkin, a UCLA professor of physics and astronomy. As of not long ago, the gas titan planets that have been specifically distinguished have been much bigger – five to 13 times Jupiter’s mass. It circles a bit further from its guardian star than Saturn does from the Sun and has a temperature of 430C (800F), sufficiently hot to dissolve lead, yet rather chilly contrasted and other outsider gas titans, which achieve temperatures over 540C (1,000F).
(An exoplanet is a planet outside our solar system.). Eric Nielsen, who is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University and the SETI Institute, quipped that the star was born 40 million years after the dinosaurs died. This puts it somewhere around the “20 million years ago” mark.
The planets in our Solar System are 4.5 billion years of age, however at only 20 million years of age, 51 Eridani b may be sufficiently youthful to uncover pieces of information about how it was made. Joseph is a dedicated writer, sports lover and avid reader who covers all different topics, ranging from space exploration to his personal favorite science, microbiology.
The core build-up process can also form rocky planets like the Earth. It is roughly twice the mass of Jupiter. Scientists have also taken some awesome pictures of the planet.
The image of 51 Eridani b on December 18th, 2014.The system had a bright central star that was then removed with the aid of hardware and software masking.
The newly-discovered world exhibits the strongest methane signature ever detected around an exoplanet.
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“This planet really could have formed the same way Jupiter did; the whole solar system could be a lot like ours”, Macintosh said. So far, GPI has identified almost a hundred. Instead, the Gemini Planet Imager detects infrared light from the planetary body itself, radiating out as it releases heat generated as debris rains onto the developing planet. “Many of the exoplanets astronomers have imaged before have atmospheres that look like very cool stars”. Any remaining incoming light is then analyzed, the brightest spots indicating a possible planet.
