Youngest Extra-Solar Planet Discovered
February 24, 2010 |15:58 | General Information By : Team X
A huge planet which is six times the mass of Jupiter has been discovered lately. It is the youngest extra-solar planet weighing about 1.9x1027 kg, is only 35 million years old and revolves around a young active central star at a very close distance. Dr. Maria Cruz Galvez-Ortiz and Dr. John Barnes from University of Hertfordshire, who led a team of astronomers, discovered the fact.
It is said to be the youngest planet orbiting a star of a similar size to our sun. As a matter of fact, it is situated 83 light years away from the earth. It is three times younger to the one which was discovered earlier, told the astronomers. Though, young stars are usually not a part of planet searches as they have powerful magnetic fields that produce phenomena known as stellar activity, which includes flares and spots.
It can copy the presence of a companion, thereby making it really difficult to untie the signals of planets and activity. Galvez-Ortiz said, "The planet was detected by searching for very small variations in the velocity of the host star, caused by the gravitational tug of the planet as it orbits -- the so-called 'Doppler wobble technique".
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