A team of astronomers has confirmed the presence of four planets orbiting a star located less than 6 light-years away with assistance from some of the world’s most advanced telescopes. The research, which was published in October 2024, unveiled the discovery of one planet orbiting Barnard’s Star, the second-closest single star system to Earth. A study recently published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters revealed that a total of four small exoplanets were identified through a collaboration of telescopes worldwide.
The Gemini Telescope in Hawaii and the Very Large Telescope in Chile played key roles in detecting these additional rocky planets, as confirmed by the astronomers. Lead author Ritvik Basant, a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago, expressed excitement about the breakthrough achieved with the precision of the new telescope instruments compared to previous generations.
The first planet was initially spotted using a 27-foot diameter telescope at the European Space Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile and a spectrograph capable of swiftly detecting changes in the star’s velocity, as outlined in the 2024 paper published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Barnard’s Star, classified as a low-mass red dwarf, was first identified in 1916, and since then, scientists have found that a significant portion of stars in the Milky Way belong to this category. This discovery sparked interest among researchers to understand the planetary composition surrounding such stars.
The planets orbiting Barnard’s Star are estimated to be 20% to 30% the mass of Earth and complete a full orbit around the star in a matter of days. They are believed to be rocky planets rather than gas giants. However, due to their close proximity to Barnard’s Star, they are likely too hot to support life, ruling out the existence of habitable planets within the star’s zone.
The researchers emphasized the challenge in detecting these planets due to the overpowering brightness of their host star. Through a comprehensive analysis of data collected over 112 different nights during a span of three years, scientists from various institutions, including the Gemini Observatory, National Science Foundation NOIRLab, Heidelberg University, and the University of Amsterdam, were able to provide solid evidence confirming the presence of the additional planets orbiting Barnard’s Star.
The collaborative effort involved teams working in Chile and Hawaii independently, without coordination, further affirming the credibility of the findings. This groundbreaking discovery sheds light on the planetary makeup of our cosmic neighbor, Barnard’s Star, offering valuable insights into the diversity of exoplanets orbiting distant stars.
“We are not mere illusions within the data.” The article titled “Discovery of Multiple Planets Orbiting Star Just 6 Light-Years Away” was first published on abcnews.go.com.
