Report by Swasti Sharma
An international group of researchers has discovered two new planets with masses comparable to that of Earth.
This team was led by Alejandro Suárez Mascareño of the University of La Laguna, Spain.
These planets were discovered using radial velocity method.
They were found orbiting the star GJ 1002. So, they are named GJ 1002 b and GJ 1002 c.
These planets are about 160 light years away from earth.
What is Radial velocity method?
By detecting a wobble, an exoplanet can be detected by looking at the effect they bring on the stars they orbit. The stars which have planets don’t orbit around their center perfectly due to gravitational pull by planets. So, the star looks like it is wobbling. Wobbling stars are detected by this method. The rate of change of distance between the object and point (exoplanet and star). The team used an instrument named spectrograph to detect these stars using RV or radial velocity.
The planets that have been found lie in habitable zones within which water could be found in liquid form. Planet b has a mass slightly higher than earth’s mass. Its year lasts only 10 earth days. Planet c is three times more massive than earth. Its year lasts 20 earth days.