MIT astronomers have discovered a new multiplanet system that hosts two worlds that orbit a star close to the Solar System's galactic neighborhood, which is just about 10 parsecs or 33 light-years away from Earth.
The two new exoplanets were known as super-Earths because of their bigger size, although smaller than an ice giant. They orbit the cool red dwarf star called HD 260655 and is one of the closest known multiplanet systems to Earth.
In this artist's impression supplied by the ESO (European Southern Observatory) on April 25, 2007, the planetary system around the red dwarf, Gliese 581, is pictured showing what astronomers believe is the most earth like planet found outside our solar system to date.
MIT's TESS Science Team Discovered New Earth-like Planets
According to a news release, the two new planets were discovered using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). It is an MIT-led mission that observes the nearest and brightest stars and detects dips in light that may point to a new planet.
MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Michelle Kunimoto, one of the discovery's lead scientists, was monitoring the incoming data of TESS in October 2021 when she noticed a pair of periodic dips in the star HD 260655. She immediately ran the detections through the science inspection pipeline and found that the dips were caused by two TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs).
Those were the same signals found before by the TESS planet search pipeline's Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC). Although the process of confirming whether those objects were planets is typically followed up with telescopes and takes several years, the process for HD 260655 was shortened because of the archival data.
Kunimoto and colleagues identified the two potential planets as HD 260655 b and HD 260655 c. One of the researchers also checked whether the star was previously observed by other telescopes. Fortunately, the red dwarf star was listed in a survey taken by the High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
The star was also listed as part of the CARMENES survey from Spain. Since both data are privately-owned, the team had to reach out to them to combine their data. The negotiations went fine and the teams agreed to work together and confirmed the presence of the two planets around HD 260655 in just six months.
Excellent Target for Study
Although the two planets were unlikely habitable, the multiplanet system is the closest to home. According to Science Alert, this makes them an excellent target for follow-up studies and surveys that aim to understand exoplanets further and assess their atmospheres which will help in the search for extraterrestrial life.
Kunimoto said that both planets in the star system are considered the best targets for atmospheric study because of the brightness of the red dwarf star. She pointed out that those two planets are fantastic test tubes for exploring whether they have a volatile-rich atmosphere and finding signs of water or carbon-based species.
As of today, there are more than 5,000 confirmed exoplanets in the Milky Way that are being studied by astrobiologists who are deeply interested in finding life beyond Earth. Researchers noted that it is important to find planets of the same size and composition as Earth because those are the top criteria for searching for life elsewhere in the cosmos.
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