Surprising discovery about the prevalence of 'super-Earths' in the universe

A new study from Ohio State University has changed our understanding of the distribution of planets outside our solar system.

Astronomers have discovered that "super-Earth" planets are much more common than scientists previously thought.

Using the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), an international team of researchers came to a remarkable conclusion: every three stars has at least one super-Earth with an orbit similar to Jupiter.

"Scientists have known that there are more small planets than large ones, but in this study we have shown more specific patterns in the distribution, including both excesses and deficiencies in this distribution," said Andrew Gould, study co-author and professor emeritus of astronomy at Ohio State University.

The team's research method is based on the phenomenon of microlensing, an observational effect that occurs when the mass of an object warps to a detectable degree.

When a foreground object, such as a star or planet, passes between the observer and a more distant star, light is bent away from the source, creating an increase in brightness that can last from hours to months.

Using this method, astronomers discovered OGLE-2016-BLG-0007, a super-Earth with a mass ratio twice that of Earth and an orbit wider than that of Saturn.

This discovery allows scientists to divide exoplanets into two groups: one group includes super-Earths and Neptune-like planets, the other group includes gas giants like Jupiter or Saturn.

Professor Richard Pogge, co-author of the study, emphasized the difficulty of finding microlensing events: "Finding a microlensing event of a star is difficult, finding a star with a microlensing planet is even more difficult. We have to observe hundreds of millions of stars to find just a hundred such events."

This rarity is reflected in the statistics: of the more than 5,000 exoplanets that have been discovered, only 237 have been identified using microlensing.

However, with the support of three high-powered telescopes located in South Africa, Chile and Australia, the KMTNet system has helped scientists regularly search for these amazing events in the universe.

Notably, scientists at Ohio State University's Imaging Sciences Laboratory designed and built the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network Camera (KMTCam) that the system used to identify exoplanets.

According to Pogge, with the constant development of technology and global cooperation like this project, scientific theories will gradually be proven by practical discoveries .

The study, conducted in collaboration with scientists from China, South Korea, Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution in the US, was published in the journal Science. This is an important step forward in understanding the formation and evolution of planetary systems in the universe./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/phat-hien-bat-ngo-ve-su-pho-bien-cua-cac-sieu-trai-dat-trong-vu-tru-post1035288.vnp