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Astronomers Discover the Second-Lightest “Cotton Candy” Exoplanet to Date.
The hunt for extrasolar planets has revealed some truly interesting candidates, not the least of which are planets known as “Hot Jupiters.” This refers to a particular class of gas giants comparable in size to Jupiter but which orbit very closely to their suns. Strangely, there are some gas giants out there that have very low densities, raising questions about their formation and evolution. This is certainly true of the Kepler 51 system, which contains no less than three “super puff” planets similar in size to Jupiter but is about one hundred times less dense.
These planets also go by the moniker “cotton candy” giants because their density is comparable to this staple confection. In a recent study, an international team of astronomers spotted another massive planet, WASP-193b, a fluffy gas giant orbiting a Sun-like star 1,232 light-years away. While this planet is roughly one and a half times the size of Jupiter, it is only about 14% as massive. This makes WASP-193b the second-lightest exoplanet observed to date. Studying this and other “cotton candy” exoplanets could provide valuable insight into how these mysterious giants form.
The research team consisted of astronomers from the Astrobiology Research Unit and the Space Sciences, Technologies, and Astrophysics Research (STAR) Institute at the Université de Liège, the Oukaimeden Observatory at Cadi Ayyad University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern, the Center for Computational Astrophysics, the Cavendish Laboratory, and the British aerospace company Space Forge. The paper that describes their findings recently appeared in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Artist’s impression of the Kepler 51 system. Credits: NASA/ESA/L. Hustak, J. Olmsted, D. Player and F. Summers (STScI)The new planet was initially spotted by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP), an international collaboration that operates two observatories (SuperWASP-North and WASP-South) and searches for exoplanets using the Transit Method (aka. Transit Photometry). Between 2006 and 2008, and again in 2011/2012, the WASP-South observatory detected periodic dips in WASP-193’s brightness. These dips were consistent with an exoplanet with an orbital period of 6.25 days and provided estimates of the planet’s size.
As Khalid Barkaoui, an MIT postdoctoral student and the study’s lead author, explained in an MIT News statement, “To find these giant objects with such a small density is really, really rare. There’s a class of planets called puffy Jupiters, and it’s been a mystery for 15 years now as to what they are. And this is an extreme case of that class… [WASP-193b] is so very light that it took four years to gather data and show that there is a mass signal, but it’s really, really tiny.”
To obtain estimates of the planet’s mass and density, astronomers relied on high-resolution spectra (aka. the Radial Velocity Method) from ground-based telescopes. Unfortunately, these attempts failed to yield accurate information because the planet was far too light to have any detectable effect on its star. In the end, Barkaoui and his team’s analysis allowed them to constrain its mass, which allowed them to estimate its density at about 0.059 grams per cubic centimeter. This is a far cry from Jupiter, which has a density of about 1.33 grams per cubic centimeter.
Said Francisco Pozuelos, a senior researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucia and the co-lead author of the study:
“We don’t know where to put this planet in all the formation theories we have right now, because it’s an outlier of all of them. We cannot explain how this planet was formed, based on classical evolution models. Looking more closely at its atmosphere will allow us to obtain an evolutionary path of this planet. We were initially getting extremely low densities, which were very difficult to believe in the beginning. We repeated the process of all the data analysis several times to make sure this was the real density of the planet because this was super rare.”
Artist’s impression of the hot Jupiter exoplanet WASP-69b, which orbits its star so closely that its atmosphere is being blown into space. Credit: Adam Makarenko/W. M. Keck ObservatoryThe researchers suspect that WASP-193b is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, like all gas giants, and that these form a hugely inflated atmosphere that extends tens of thousands of kilometers farther than Jupiter’s atmosphere. These findings cannot be explained by conventional theories of planet formation and evolution, which makes WASP-193b an ideal candidate for follow-up observations. In the near future, the team hopes to conduct follow-up studies using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and a technique developed by MIT assistant professor Julien de Wit.
This technique allows astronomers to measure the temperature, composition, and pressure of an exoplanet’s atmosphere to various depths, which can be used to precisely determine the planet’s mass. “The bigger a planet’s atmosphere, the more light can go through,” de Wit says. “So it’s clear that this planet is one of the best targets we have for studying atmospheric effects. It will be a Rosetta Stone to try and resolve the mystery of puffy Jupiters.”
Further Reading: MIT, Nature Astronomy
The post Astronomers Discover the Second-Lightest “Cotton Candy” Exoplanet to Date. appeared first on Universe Today.
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NASA to Start Designing More Sustainable Jet Engine Core
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This artist concept shows a NASA-developed small-core jet engine installed in General Electric Aerospace’s CFM RISE jet engine design. The more fuel-efficient small core powers a large open turbofan, which also helps increase efficiency. The effort is part of NASA’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership to help inform the next generation of ultra-efficient airliners.GE Aerospace
NASA, alongside industry, will soon begin designing a new jet engine concept for the next generation of ultra-efficient airliners — officially graduating to the project’s next phase.
As part of NASA’s goal to make the aviation industry more sustainable, the agency is developing a small core for a hybrid-electric turbofan jet engine that could reduce fuel burn by 10% compared to today’s engines.
A jet engine’s core is where compressed air is combined with fuel and ignited to generate power. By making this core smaller, fuel efficiency can be improved and carbon emissions reduced.
The goal of the project, named Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC), is to demonstrate this compact core and have the technology ready for adoption in engines powering next-generation aircraft in the 2030s. HyTEC is a key component of NASA’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership.
To achieve its ambitious goal, HyTEC is structured in two phases:
- Phase 1, which is wrapping up, focused on selecting the component technologies to use in the core demonstrator.
- Phase 2, starting now, will see researchers design, build, and test a compact core in collaboration with GE Aerospace.
“Phase 1 of HyTEC is winding down and we are ramping up Phase 2,” said Anthony Nerone, who leads HyTEC at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. “This phase will culminate in a core demonstration test that proves the technology so it can transition to industry.”
The End of the BeginningBefore researchers could start the design and build process for the core, they had to explore innovative new materials to use in the engine. After three years of notably fast progress, HyTEC researchers came up with solutions.
“We’ve been laser-focused since day one. We began the project with certain technical goals and metrics for success and, so far, we haven’t had to change course from any of them,” Nerone said.
To shrink the size of a core while maintaining the same level of thrust, heat and pressure must increase compared to standard jet engines used today. This means the engine core must be made of more durable materials that can withstand higher temperatures.
In addition to conducting materials research, the project also explored advanced aerodynamics and other key technical elements.
Cross section of a typical turbofan jet engine highlights parts of the core HyTEC will work to advance. These include the high-pressure compressor, combustor, high pressure turbine, and power extraction components.NASA What Comes Next
Phase 2 builds on Phase 1 to create a compact core for ground testing that proves HyTEC’s capabilities.
“Phase 2 is very complex. It’s not just a core demonstration,” Nerone said. “What we’re creating has never been done before, and it involves many different technologies coming together to form a new type of engine.”
Technologies tested in the HyTEC program will help enable a much higher bypass ratio, hybridization, and compatibility with sustainable aviation fuels.
The bypass ratio describes the relationship between the amount of air flowing through the engine core compared to the amount of air bypassing the core to flow around it.
By decreasing the core size while increasing the size of the turbofan it powers – while maintaining the same thrust output — the HyTEC concept would use less fuel and reduce carbon emissions.
“HyTEC is an integral part of our RISE program,” said Kathleen Mondino, who helps lead RISE program technologies at GE Aerospace. “GE Aerospace and NASA have a long history of collaboration to advance the latest aviation technologies. The HyTEC program builds on this relationship to help chart the future of more sustainable flight.”
Another piece of the puzzle is hybridization. HyTEC’s hybrid-electric capability means the core will also be augmented by electrical power to further reduce fuel use and carbon emissions.
“This engine will be the first mild hybrid-electric engine, and hopefully, the first production engine for airliners that is hybrid-electric,” Nerone said.
About the AuthorJohn GouldAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateJohn Gould is a member of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications team at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is dedicated to public service and NASA’s leading role in scientific exploration. Prior to working for NASA Aeronautics, he was a spaceflight historian and writer, having a lifelong passion for space and aviation.
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Share Details Last Updated May 17, 2024 EditorJim BankeContactBrian Newbacherbrian.t.newbacher@nasa.gov Related TermsDid Earth’s Multicellular Life Depend on Plate Tectonics?
How did complex life emerge and evolve on the Earth and what does this mean for finding life beyond Earth? This is what a recent study published in Nature hopes to address as a pair of researchers investigated how plate tectonics, oceans, and continents are responsible for the emergence and evolution of complex life across our planet and how this could address the Fermi Paradox while attempting to improve the Drake Equation regarding why we haven’t found life in the universe and the parameters for finding life, respectively. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the criterion for finding life beyond Earth, specifically pertaining to the geological processes exhibited on Earth.
Here, Universe Today discusses this study with Dr. Taras Gerya, who is a Professor of Earth Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Zurich) and co-author of the study, regarding the motivation behind the study, significant results, follow-up studies, what this means for the Drake Equation, and the study’s implications for finding life beyond Earth. So, what was the motivation behind this study?
Dr. Gerya tells Universe Today, “It was motivated by the Fermi Paradox (“Where is everybody?”) pointing out that the Drake Equation typically predicts that there are from 1000 to 100,000,000 actively communicating civilizations in our galaxy, which is too optimistic of an estimate. We tried to figure out what may need to be corrected in this equation to make the prediction with the Drake Equation more realistic.”
For the study, the research duo compared two types of planetary tectonic processes: single lid (also called stagnant lid) and plate tectonics. Single lid refers to a planetary body that does not exhibit plate tectonics and cannot be broken into separate plates that exhibit movement by sliding towards each other (convergent), sliding past each other (transform), or slide away from each other (divergent). This lack of plate tectonic activity is often attributed to a planetary body’s lid being too strong and dense to be broken apart. In the end, the researchers estimated that 75 percent of planetary bodies that exhibit active convection within their interiors do not exhibit plate tectonics and possess single lid tectonics, with Earth being the only planet that exhibits plate tectonics. Therefore, they concluded that single lid tectonics “is likely to dominate the tectonic styles of active silicate bodies in our galaxy”, according to the study.
Additionally, the researchers investigated how planetary continents and oceans contribute to the evolution of intelligent life and technological civilizations. They noted the significance of life first evolving in oceans due to them being shielded from harmful space weather with single-celled life thriving in the oceans for the first few billion years of Earth’s history. However, the researchers also emphasize how dry land provides a myriad of benefits for the evolution of intelligent life, including adaptations to various terrains, such as eyes and new senses, which contributed to animals evolving for speed to hunt among other biological assets that enabled life to adapt to the various terrestrial environments across the planet.
In the end, the researchers concluded dry land helped contribute to the evolution of intelligent life across the planet, including abstract thinking, technology, and science. Therefore, what were the most significant results from this study, and what follow-up studies are currently in the works or being planned?
Dr. Gerya tells Universe Today, “That very special condition (>500 million years coexistence of continents, oceans, and plate tectonics) is needed on a planet with a primitive life in order to develop an intelligent technological communicative life. This condition is very rarely realized: only <0.003-0.2 % of planets with any life may satisfy this condition.”
Dr. Gerya continues, “We plan to study water evolution in the planetary interior in order to understand how stability of surface ocean volume (implying stability of coexistence of oceans and continents) can be maintained for billions of years (like on Earth). We also plan to investigate the survival time of technological civilizations based on societal collapse models. We also started a project on the oxygenation state evolution of planetary interior and atmosphere in order to understand how oxygen-rich atmospheres (essential in particular for developing technological civilizations) can be formed on planets with oceans, continents and plate tectonics. Progress in these three directions is essential but will greatly depend on the availability of research funding.”
As noted, this study was motivated and attempts to improve the Drake Equation, which proposes a multivariable equation that attempts to estimate the number of active, communicative civilizations (ACCs) that exist in the Milky Way Galaxy. It was proposed by in 1961 Dr. Frank Drake to postulate several notions that he encouraged the scientific community to consider when discussing both how and why we haven’t heard from ACCs and reads as follows:
N = R* x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L
N = the number of technological civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy who can potentially communicate with other worlds
R* = the average star formation rate in the Milky Way Galaxy
fp = the fraction of those stars with planets
ne = the average number of planets potentially capable of supporting life per star with planets
fl = the fraction of planets capable of supporting and developing life at some point in its history
fi = the fraction of planets that develop life and evolves into intelligent life
fc = the fraction of civilizations who develop technology capable of sending detectable signals into space
L = the length of time that technological civilizations send signals into space
According to the study, the Drake Equation estimates the number of ACCs range widely, between 200 to 50,000,000. As part of the study, the researchers proposed adding two additional variables to the Drake Equation based on their findings that plate tectonics, oceans, and continents have played a vital role in the development and evolution of complex life on Earth, which are as follows:
foc = the fraction of habitable exoplanets that possess notable continents and oceans
fpt = the fraction of habitable exoplanets that possess notable continents and oceans that also exhibit plate tectonics that have been functioning for at least 500 million years
Using these two new variables, the study provided new estimates for fi (chances of planets that develop life and evolve into intelligent life). So, what is the importance of adding two new variables to the Drake Equation?
Dr. Gerya tells Universe Today, “This allowed us to re-define and estimate more correctly the key term of the Drake equation fi – probability of a planet with primitive life to develop an intelligent technological communicative life. Originally, fi was (incorrectly) estimated to be very high (100%). Our estimate is many orders of magnitude lower (<0.003-0.2 %), which likely explains why we are not contacted by other civilizations.”
Additionally, when inputting these two new variables into the entire Drake Equation, the study estimates a far smaller number of ACCs at < 0.006 to 100,000, which is in stark contrast to the original estimates of the Drake Equation of 200 to 50,000,000. Therefore, what implications could this study have on the search for life beyond Earth?
Dr. Gerya tells Universe Today, “It has three key consequences: (1) we should not hope much that we will be contacted (probability of this is very low, in part because the life time of technological civilizations can be shorter than previously expected), (2) we should use remote sensing to look for planets with oceans, continents and plate tectonics (COPT planets) in our galaxy based on their likely distinct (CO2-poor) atmospheres and surface reflectivity signatures (due to the presence of oceans and continents), (3) we should take care about our own planet and civilization, both are extremely rare and must be preserved.”
This study comes as the search for life beyond Earth continues to gain traction, with NASA having confirmed the existence of 5,630 exoplanets as of this writing, with almost 1,700 being classified as Super-Earths and 200 being classified as rocky exoplanets. Despite these incredible numbers, especially since exoplanets first started being discovered in the 1990s, humanity has yet to detect any type of signal from an extraterrestrial technological civilization, which this study referred to as ACCs.
Arguably the closest we have come to receiving a signal from outer space was the Wow! signal, which was a 72-second radio blast received by Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope on August 15, 1977. However, this signal has yet to be received since, along with a complete lack of signals at all. With this study, perhaps scientists can use these two new variables added to the Drake Equation to help narrow the scope of finding intelligent life beyond Earth.
Dr. Gerya concludes by telling Universe Today, “This research is part of an emerging new science – Biogeodynamics, which we try to support and develop. Biogeodynamics aims to understand and quantify relations between the long-term evolution of planetary interiors, surface, atmosphere, and life.”
How will these two new variables added to the Drake Equation help scientists find life beyond Earth in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
The post Did Earth’s Multicellular Life Depend on Plate Tectonics? appeared first on Universe Today.
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Hubble Sees a Brand New Triple Star System
In a world that seems to be switching focus from the Hubble Space Telescope to the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble still reminds us it’s there. Another amazing image has been released that shows the triple star system HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3. The stars in this wonderful system are young, HP Tau for example is so young that it hasn’t started to fuse hydrogen yet and is only 10 million years old!
Hubble was launched in 1990 and since then, has revolutionised our understanding of the Universe. It orbits Earth at an altitude of around 547 kilometres and from that position has provided us stunning views of objects across the cosmos. It is about the size of a classic British double decker bus and at its core, a 2.4m mirror. The mirror collects incoming light from distant objects before directing it to one of a number of instruments that record and analyse it.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope flies with Earth in the background after a 2002 servicing mission. Credit: NASA.The image recently released shows a wonderful example of a reflection nebula 550 light years away in Taurus. These particular types of nebula are made up of interstellar dust that reflect light from nearby stars, unlike emission nebula which glow in their own right. They have a characteristic blue hue to them due to the reflective properties of the dust. Looking at the image you can easily imagine a hollowed out cavity in the nebula that has been carved by the young stars.
The triple stars at the heart of the system, HP Tau, HP Tau G2 and HP Tau G3 are young hot stars. HP Tau is a type of variable star known as a T Tau star. They are a type of star that are less than 10 million years old and named after the first start of its type to be discovered in Taurus. Identification is usually achieved by studies of their optical variability and strong lines in their spectra from the chromosphere. Given their young age, they are generally found still being surrounded by the cloud of gas and dust they have formed out of.
The amount of light emitted by HP Tau varies with time however this particular type of star tends to have regular and sometimes random fluctuations. The jury is still out on the random variations but it may be the young nature of the stars leads to slightly chaotic processes as the stars begin to settle down. Perhaps material from an accretion disk still in the process of collapsing may dump material onto the star causing it to flare.
Take a good look at the image though and make sure to study the stunning patterns of the nebulosity. Remember the light that left this object has travelled for 550 years before entering the optics of the Hubble Space Telescope. When Hubble turned its attention to HP Tau it did so as part of an investigation into protoplanetary disks. These disks are seen in many young hot stars and are believed to be the progenitors to planetary systems around stars.
Source : Hubble Views the Dawn of a Sun-like Star
The post Hubble Sees a Brand New Triple Star System appeared first on Universe Today.
The Venerable Hubble Space Telescope Keeps Delivering
The world was much different in 1990 when NASA astronauts removed the Hubble Space Telescope from Space Shuttle Discovery’s cargo bay and placed it into orbit. The Cold War was ending, there were only 5.3 billion humans, and the World Wide Web had just come online.
Now, the old Soviet Union is gone, replaced by a smaller but no less militaristic Russia. The human population has ballooned to 8.1 billion. The internet is a fixture in daily life. We also have a new, more powerful space telescope, the JWST.
But the Hubble keeps delivering, as this latest image shows.
The lenticular galaxy NGC 4753 is about 60 million light-years away. Lenticular galaxies are midway between elliptical and spiral galaxies. They have large-scale disks but only poorly defined spiral arms. NGC 4753 sees very little star formation because like other lenticulars, it’s used up most of its gas. The fact that they contain mostly older stars makes them similar to elliptical galaxies.
Among lenticulars, NGC 4753 is known for the dust lanes surrounding its nucleus. Astronomers think that spirals evolve into lenticulars in dense environments because they interact with other galaxies and with the intergalactic medium. However, NGC 4753 is in a low-density environment. Its environment and complex structure make it a target for astronomers to test their theories of galaxy formation and evolution.
This Hubble image is the sharpest ever taken of NGC 4753, revealing its intriguing complexity and highlighting the space telescope’s impressive resolving power.
Astronomers think that NGC 4753 is the result of a merger with a dwarf galaxy over one billion years ago. The dwarf galaxy was gas-rich, and NGC 4753’s distinct dust rings probably accreted from the merger. NGC 4753’s powerful gravity then shaped the gas into the complex shapes we see in this image. Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. KelseyNGC 4763’s unique structure results from a merger with a dwarf galaxy about 1.3 billion years ago. The video below from NOIRlab explains what happened.
NGC 4753 also hosts two known Type 1a supernovae, which are important because they help astronomers study the expansion of the Universe. They serve as standard candles, an important rung in the cosmic distance ladder.
Galaxies like NGC 4753 may not be rare, but the viewing angle plays a key role in identifying them. Our edge-on view of the galaxy makes its lenticular form clear. We could be seeing others like it from different angles that obscure its nature.
This is a model of NGC 4753, as seen from various viewing orientations. From left to right and top to bottom, the angle of the line of sight to the galaxy’s equatorial plane ranges from 10° to 90° in steps of 10°. Although galaxies similar to NGC 4753 may not be rare, only certain viewing orientations allow for easy identification of a highly twisted disk. This infographic is a recreation of Figure 7 from a 1992 research paper.If we were looking at NGC 4753 from the “top” down, its detailed dust lanes wouldn’t be obvious to us. But fortunately, we are.
And so is the Hubble.
The post The Venerable Hubble Space Telescope Keeps Delivering appeared first on Universe Today.