Scientists Catherine Lariotis and Jennifer Bart didn’t try to upset Trekkie with new research on exoplanets in other solar systems.
As it happens, the data is logical to them and the rest of the research team — many Logical — conclusion, they said.
Five years ago, a paper was published(opens in new tab) of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society They reported the existence of a planet orbiting a star about 16 light-years away. Stars were 40 in Erida.The name may not sound familiar to everyone, but fans of the original will Star Trek The series knows it as the host star of Spock’s fictional planet, Vulcan.
The problem is, after re-analysis, the new team found that the findings were likely a mistake. They had to go and wipe his home planet from existence.
“Sorry,” Burt told Mashable. “We’ll find another cool planet.”
Yes, NASA astronauts still pee in their new spacesuits
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their research was accepted for publication(opens in new tab) of astronomical journalintended to support NASA’s future Habitable World Observatory(opens in new tab), a mission to use space telescopes to photograph Earth-like planets around relatively close stars. This project has been in the making for decades and aims to study these refreshing worlds for signs of life. It is scheduled to launch sometime in the 2040s.
In the sci-fi series Star Trek, Spock comes from the planet Vulcan, said to orbit 40 Eridani, the true star of the Milky Way galaxy.
Credit: CBS via Getty Images
The group delved into the vast body of publicly available data to study exoplanets(opens in new tab) in the Southern Hemisphere. Their goal was to consider the best bets for future telescopes. In the process, however, they discovered that several previously recorded exoplanets were likely false.
One of them is 40 Eri b, the official name given to the planet Vulcan by the author. The new paper formally refutes it.
Planet Vulcan was ‘discovered’ in 2018
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In 2018, the original author explained exoplanets(opens in new tab) As the closest super-Earth orbiting another sun-like star. It was said that there are 42 days in a year within the star’s habitable zone, twice as large as her on Earth.super earth(opens in new tab) is a class of planets with up to ten times the mass of our blue marble, but lighter than ice giants like Neptune and Uranus.
Other rocky planets in Milky Way system see triple sunset(opens in new tab) This is because Eridani 40 actually contains three stars that circle each other.
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“We find other cool planets.”
Researchers have announced the discovery of the planet Vulcan is set in Star Trek.
Credit: University of Florida
Lariotis, Bert, and the rest of the new team used radial velocity(opens in new tab) Check the solar system for viable candidates. This is a method of exoplanet detection that looks for subtle changes in the frequency of starlight as seen from Earth. The gravitational pull of the orbiting planet is thought to cause slight wobbles in light measurements.
Their analysis found features indicative of star activity(opens in new tab)is not evidence of an exoplanet.
“It looks like a planetary signal, but it’s not really a planet,” said Laliotis, who worked as a NASA intern during the research and is currently pursuing a PhD at Ohio State University. “It’s like a little speck on the surface of a star.”
It’s unclear whether the first researchers to announce the exoplanet discovery will agree with the new analysis. His Mashable attempt to reach the first of his two authors affiliated with the University of Florida was unsuccessful.
The search for Earth-like exoplanets continues
Since rumors of the new results have spread, the scientists involved have been somewhat enamored by fans, including family members. It was not supposed to happen for several more centuries.
Bart, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said his mother refused to read the article.
“My mother was a Trekkie,” she said. “She claimed that this is why I am an astronomer. rice field.”
The spaceship Enterprise allowed Star Trek characters to search for life on extrasolar planets.
Credit: CBS via Getty Images
Despite their findings, Lariotis said the search for Spock’s home could continue. enterprise To look for it, more sensitive instruments and detection methods may allow us to find another small exoplanet in that system in the near future.
After all, if the detection of 40 Eri b was correct, it would be too hot to sustain life as we know it.
“There is still hope that Vulcan may be there,” she said. “This may actually be a promise that there may be better Vulcans out there.”
