Astronomers Find An Exoplanet Orbiting A Tiny Star
Written by Reananda Hidayat Permono
Completed Master of Science - MS, Petroleum Geology from Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Astronomers discovered TOI-5205, a distant star that lies roughly 283 light years from the Earth and has exoplanet members surrounding it.
The star is smaller than the sun, around four times Jupiter, and has a lower temperature.
It’s so small that we can’t see the star with the naked eye.
Interestingly, it represents most of the stars in our galaxy.
Scientists estimate that around three-quarters of the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy are red dwarfs, like TOI-5205.
Hence, the majority of exoplanets orbit this kind of star.
A team of astronomers from the Carnegie Institution for Science, led by Subham Kanodia, discovered a gas giant the size of Jupiter orbiting TOI-5205.
This discovery becomes more interesting since scientists first found a gas giant around a small star.
For comparison, our sun is a thousand times bigger than Jupiter.
The existence of TOI-5205 makes astronomers question the existing models of planetary formation.
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) detects exoplanets by determining the dimming level as they pass between the Earth and their parent star.
Generally, exoplanets cover less than one percent of a planet’s total luminosity.
However, TOI-5205 blocked almost 7% of its parent star’s light.
Therefore, astronomers assume this incredible dimming effect as a perfect candidate for future observations.