St Andrews University astronomers find ‘Super Earth’
ByThe Courier Reporter
The planet was previously hidden.
A secret “Super Earth” has been discovered in the night sky thanks to astronomers from St Andrews University.
The newfound world, titled HD 219134b, was discovered lurking among the stars in the Cassiopeia constellation.
During observations it was found that a fifth magnitude star had been hiding a secret a planet in a three-day orbit that transits, or crosses in front of its star.
At a distance of 21 light-years, it is by far the closest transiting planet to Earth.
It is also the nearest rocky planet confirmed outside of our solar system.
Annelies Mortier of the university said: “For a planet like this one, orbiting at a distance 10 times the radius of its parent star, the chances of transits occurring are better than 1-in-10, so it was well worth looking.”
With a mass more than four times that of Earth, HD 219134b qualifies as a “Super Earth”.
St Andrews University astronomers find ‘Super Earth’
