{"id":794432,"date":"2025-03-16T05:29:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-16T10:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=794432"},"modified":"2025-03-16T05:29:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T10:29:06","slug":"exciting-4-new-mini-earth-exoplanets-at-nearby-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=794432","title":{"rendered":"Exciting! 4 new mini-Earth exoplanets at nearby star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Exoplanets Orbiting Barnard\u2019s Star Animation\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oPqP2LXOJCo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/><em>Mini-Earth exoplanets orbiting Barnard\u2019s Star animation. Video via NOIRLabAstro.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Barnard\u2019s Star is a red dwarf star.<\/strong> It is the closest single star to our solar system, only 6 light-years away.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Astronomers previously confirmed one planet orbiting Barnard\u2019s Star,<\/strong> smaller and less massive than Earth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Now a total of four known planets have been confirmed.<\/strong> All are \u201cmini-Earths,\u201d only 20% to 30% the mass of Earth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>4 new mini-Earth exoplanets nearby<\/h3>\n<p>Last October, astronomers announced the discovery of the first known planet orbiting Barnard\u2019s Star, the closest single star to our solar system. On March 11, 2025, an international team of astronomers said it has confirmed three more, for a total of four planets. The researchers said all four planets are smaller and less massive than Earth. They used the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii and previous data from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to make the discovery.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers published the exciting peer-reviewed findings in <em>The Astrophysical Journal Letters<\/em> on March 11, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>2025 EarthSky lunar calendar is available now. A unique and beautiful poster-sized calendar with phases of the moon for every night of the year. Get yours today!<\/p>\n<h3>Does Barnard\u2019s Star have planets?<\/h3>\n<p>Barnard\u2019s Star is a red dwarf, the most common type of star in our Milky Way galaxy. In fact, most of the more than 5,000 exoplanets astronomers have so far confirmed around other stars orbit red dwarfs. So, does Barnard\u2019s Star have planets, too? It seems reasonable, given the numerous other red dwarfs with planets.<\/p>\n<p>Previous searches hinted at planets around Barnard\u2019s Star, but they remained unconfirmed. Then, the study from last year using the Very Large Telescope finally confirmed one planet, about half the mass of Venus.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_504327\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-504327\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-504327\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View larger. | Artist\u2019s concept of the 4 mini-Earth exoplanets around Barnard\u2019s Star, as seen from near the surface of 1 of them. Astronomers have now confirmed 4 planets orbiting the red dwarf star, most likely rocky like Earth. Image via International Gemini Observatory\/ NOIRLab\/ NSF\/ AURA\/ P. Marenfeld.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>4 mini-Earth exoplanets for Barnard\u2019s Star<\/h3>\n<p>Now we know that Barnard\u2019s Star has at least four planets! Jacob Bean from the University of Chicago led the new search. They used a new instrument called MAROON-X, attached to the Gemini North telescope. It was designed specifically to look for planets around red dwarfs. MAROON-X uses the radial velocity method in its search. That means it detects the tiny wobbles of a star due to planets tugging on it with their gravity.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the required observations took time: 112 nights over three years altogether. But it paid off in spades. The astronomers were able to confirm three more planets around Barnard\u2019s Star plus the previous planet for a total of four. Lead author Ritvik Basant at the University of Chicago said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s a really exciting find, Barnard\u2019s Star is our cosmic neighbor, and yet we know so little about it. It\u2019s signaling a breakthrough with the precision of these new instruments from previous generations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>All four of the planets are smaller and less massive than Earth. They range from about 20% to 30% Earth\u2019s mass. They are, therefore, most likely rocky. That aspect of them still needs to be further confirmed, however. In addition, the fourth planet is the least massive exoplanet found to date using the radial velocity method.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at:\/\/did:plc:kpjzn7hnzphv4ddw4autkfzl\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lk4krjsfnk2c\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreidb5h2oew5yqowskizb7hcjkshqp5j3tvce2n5mqhfzrr6qp27gky\">\n<p lang=\"en\">Confirmed at last! Following decades of disproven claims, four small exoplanets have been confirmed to orbit Barnard\u2019s Star, the second-closest star system to Earth after Alpha Centauri. aasnova.org\/2025\/03\/11\/c\u2026 ??<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 AAS Nova (@aasnova.org) 2025-03-11T17:11:46.022Z<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Confidence in the data<\/h3>\n<p>The researchers are confident that these are real planets and no longer just candidates. Basant said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We observed at different times of night on different days. They\u2019re in Chile; we\u2019re in Hawaii. Our teams didn\u2019t coordinate with each other at all. That gives us a lot of assurance that these aren\u2019t phantoms in the data.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The discovery is reminiscent of the planets around TRAPPIST-1, another red dwarf. That star has seven known rocky planets, all similar in size to Earth. Some of the those planets orbit in the star\u2019s habitable zone, where temperatures could allow liquid water to exist.<\/p>\n<p>Whether any of the Barnard\u2019s Star planets could be potentially habitable is still unknown. But it will be interesting to see what else astronomers can find out about them!<\/p>\n<p>Bottom line: Astronomers have confirmed four mini-Earth exoplanets orbiting Barnard\u2019s Star, which is a red dwarf and the closest single star to our solar system.<\/p>\n<p>Source: Four Sub-Earth Planets Orbiting Barnard\u2019s Star from MAROON-X and ESPRESSO<\/p>\n<p>Via NOIRLab<\/p>\n<p>Read more: Barnard\u2019s Star has 1 planet, maybe more, at last!<\/p>\n<p>Read more: The enduring mystique of Barnard\u2019s Star<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Paul Scott Anderson<\/h4>\n<p>                    View Articles\n                  <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Paul Scott Anderson has had a passion for space exploration that began when he was a child when he watched Carl Sagan\u2019s Cosmos. He studied English, writing, art and computer\/publication design in high school and college. He later started his blog The Meridiani Journal in 2005, which was later renamed Planetaria. He also later started the blog Fermi Paradoxica, about the search for life elsewhere in the universe.&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\nWhile interested in all aspects of space exploration, his primary passion is planetary science and SETI. In 2011, he started writing about space on a freelance basis with Universe Today. He has also written for SpaceFlight Insider and AmericaSpace and has also been published in The Mars Quarterly. He also did some supplementary writing for the iOS app Exoplanet.&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\nHe has been writing for EarthSky since 2018, and also assists with proofing and social media.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/mini-earth-exoplanets-barnards-star-red-dwarfs\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mini-Earth exoplanets orbiting Barnard\u2019s Star animation. Video via NOIRLabAstro. Barnard\u2019s Star is a red dwarf star. It is the closest single star to our solar system, only 6 light-years away.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":794433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-794432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=794432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/794433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=794432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=794432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=794432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}