New York, Nov 29, : An international team made up of astronomers discovered 366 new exoplanets using data from NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope’s mission K2. The results were published in an Astronomical Journal paper.They showed that a planetary system includes a star and at most two gas giant planets.Each of these planets is roughly the same size as Saturn and are located unusually close together.
This is a significant discovery because gas giants, like Saturn in our solar system, are rarely found as close to their host star as this case.
Although the researchers are unable to explain why it happened, the finding is extremely useful as it could help scientists gain a better understanding of the parameters that govern the development of planets and planetary system.
Jon Zink, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar, said that each new world offers a unique glimpse into the physics involved in planet formation.
These findings could help astronomers to understand which stars are most likely have planets orbiting them.
They also can learn more about the building blocks required for successful planet formation from the study.
Zink stated that we need to see a wider range of stars than just the sun to understand that.
Exoplanets is a term used to describe planets that are not part of the solar system.Astronomers have identified fewer than 5,000 exoplanets, so it is significant that hundreds of new ones have been discovered.
Kepler’s original mission was halted unexpectedly in 2013.A mechanical problem rendered the spacecraft incapable of pointing at the patch it had been watching for years.
Astronomers used the telescope to launch a new mission called K2, which aims to find exoplanets close to distant stars.K2 data is helping scientists to understand how the location of stars in the galaxy affects what type of planets can form around them.
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