New Hot Planet near Vega – Signs
Signs Indicate the Presence of a New Hot Planet Near the Famous Star Vega.
A possible searing-hot planet was spotted by astronomers, orbiting Vega, one of the brightest and most known stars in the sky
Approximately the size of Neptune, the candidate alien planet lies very close to Vega, taking 2.5 Earth days to make a single orbit around its sun, and still requires follow-up observations or analyses to be confirmed as a planet.
This proximity to Vega results in the planet’s surface temperature being approximately 2,976 degrees Celsius (5,390 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the researchers’ calculations, granting it the title of the second-hottest planet known if it does indeed exist, the hottest being KELT-9b with an overwhelming 4,300 degrees Celsius, or 7,800 degrees Fahrenheit.
Follow-up studies of this potential planetary system are a real possibility given the mere distance of 25 light-years that separates Vega from Earth and how it sits relatively high in the northern sky. While attempting to confirm the Neptune-size world, scientists scout for possible planets around the famous star, which is in the constellation Lyra.
Astronomers Discover Vega Candidate Planet: Waiting for Confirmation with NASA’s Webb Telescope
Spencer Hurt, the lead author of a new study announcing the Vega candidate planet, states that this system is massive in comparison to our solar system.
Hurt, an undergraduate astronomy student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, added that other planets could exist throughout that system, it’s only a matter of being able to detect them.
After observing 10 years of data collected by the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona. The team members spotted a slight wobble in the star’s motion, suggesting that an orbiting planet is tugging on it gravitationally.
For many years, astronomers have been hunting for planets around Vega. In 2013, evidence of a huge asteroid belt circling the star was announced by astronomers, and they expressed hope that the discovery may eventually guide the way to spot planets. However, the discovery team added that confirming planets may have to wait until this October, after the launch of NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope in the same month.
Vega: A Bright Star with Cosmic Appeal in Science and Science Fiction
The brightness of Vega is immense, allowing professional telescopes to see the star in the sky even when it’s daylight, favoring flexible observations. According to Hurt, to confirm the existence of the candidate planet, he and his colleagues are hoping to find direct light emissions from it in future studies.
In science fiction, vegan planets and aliens have been a staple through the years ranging from Isaac Asimov’s 1951 series “Foundation” to the “Star Trek. he Original Series” episode “The Cage” (created in 1965 and first aired in 1988) to the movies or television shows such as 19 “Spaceballs” (1987), “Contact” (1997) and “Babylon 5” (1993-98), among many others. Vega’s proximity to Earth is largely involved in its appeal in science and science fiction. Since our Milky Way galaxy alone is roughly 100,000 light-years across, twenty-five light-years can be considered small in cosmic terms. The star can be spotted with the naked eye and during the summer months of the northern hemisphere, as part of the Summer Triangle asterism, it rides high in the sky.
The new study was published March 2 in The Astrophysical Journal.
