Astronomers might be getting closer to finding aliens after finding 85 possible planets beyond our Solar System that could potentially support life.
These new planets were discovered by studying NASA data and there’s a chance they could sustain life.
Scientists examined lots of data from NASA to find new planets similar in size to Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune.
They looked at over a million stars and found numerous new exoplanets – planets that orbit different stars than our Sun.
These fresh discoveries were made using info from a NASA mission called TESS (Transitioning Exoplanet Survey Satellite).
Scientists now know that these new planets are much cooler than those found in the original TESS mission, which started in April 2018.
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Typically, at least three transits need to be seen to discover an exoplanet using TESS to determine how long they take to orbit their star. However, in this new study, systems that only transit twice were targeted.
This results in exoplanet discoveries at longer orbital periods – which enables the discovery of exoplanets at cooler temperatures. The 85 potential exoplanets, which take between 20 and 700 days to orbit their stars, are being closely watched by scientists.
Hawthorn said: “We ran an initial algorithm searching for transits on a sample of 1.4 million stars. After a painstaking vetting process, we whittled this down to just 85 systems that appear to host exoplanets that transit only twice in the dataset.
“There is plenty of scope for continued research into these exoplanets – to learn more about their exact orbital periods, whether or not they have moons, and what exactly they are made of.”
Professor Daniel Bayliss, who was part of the research team, said: “It’s very exciting to find these planets, and to know that many of them may be in the right temperature zone to sustain life. The project was a real team effort and involved researchers at varying stages of their careers; it’s wonderful to see it come to light.
“Alongside the lead researcher, PhD student Faith Hawthorn, an undergraduate student Kaylen Smith Darnbrook helped us to analyse the data during a summer project.”
“It is a major achievement for an undergraduate to have their research work published, so it was a proud moment for us all. Encompassing the collaborative spirit of the TESS mission, we have also made our discoveries public so that astronomers across the globe can study these unique exoplanets in more detail. We hope this will drive further research into these fascinating exoplanets.”
Dr Sam Gill, second author of the study, noted: “Detecting exoplanets from just two transits is a clever way to find longer period exoplanets in transit surveys.
“It allows us to find planets that are much cooler than can be found with traditional transit searches. The study was published today (Wed) in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).”
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