Researchers argue that '99% extra solar system planet exists' on a star that is only 6 light years away from the earth

by Thanasis Papathanasiou

Bernard star is located at a distance of about 6 light-years from the earth and is known to be the second closest distance from the solar system next to the Alpha star Centaurus . Such speculation that Bernard star "There is a planet revolving around?" Had been done for many years, but finally "observation result that the planet inherent to Bernard star existed" was obtained It is reported that.

A candidate super-Earth planet orbiting near the snow line of Barnard's star | Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0677-y

Astronomers discover super-Earth around Barnard's star
https://phys.org/news/2018-11-astronomers-super-earth-barnard-star.html

Studies jointly conducted by the University of London Queen Mary and Spanish Catalunya Space Research Institute (IEEC) and the Spanish Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (CSIC) have found that there are planets called " Bernard star b " around the Bernard star The possibility is rising. The Bernard star b is a rocky planet with a mass of 3.2 times the mass of the Earth, and it is said that it is going around the Bernard star around 233 days.

The orbit where Bernard star b is orbiting is far away from the Bernard star and is seen to be beyond the line called the freezing line . Therefore, the surface temperature is an extremely cold environment of about -170 degrees, it seems that there is a high possibility that it is not a planet where life is likely to exist like the earth. However, if Barnard star b had a thick atmosphere, the temperature will be high and the living environment may be better.

Guillem Anglada , professor of physics and astronomy at Queen Mary of the University of London, says, "Bernard Star is a notorious planet among astronomers." Actually, in the 1960s, there was a time when it was widely believed that "Bernard star has a planet" was proclaimed, but it turned out later that it was due to an error of the telescope. Anglada says he hopes that this discovery will not be overturned.

The extrasolar planet closest to the solar system at the time of article creation is considered to be Proxima Centauri that revolves around Proxima Centauri , a red dwarf , located about 4 light years away from the solar system. If the existence of Bernard star b is demonstrated, it will be the extrasolar planet which exists at a short distance from the solar system next to it.

The research team found the Bernard star b using Doppler spectroscopy . Line-of-sight velocity light from celestial objects with the Doppler effect by, when the celestial object is moving away is the wavelength of the light is shifted toward the red redshift caused the shifted toward the blue when you are approaching in the opposite blue It causes a deviation . When the planet exists around the fixed star, the fluctuation due to gravity occurs, so from the observation result of Doppler spectroscopy, the prediction that the planet exists around the fixed star will be established.

As a result of examining the observation data over the past 20 years and the latest data, the research team seems to be able to almost specify that "there are unique planets that revolve in Bernard star." Ignasi Ribas , CSIC researcher, said, "After a very cautious analysis, we are convinced that there is a planet with Bernard Stars b for Bernard Stars with an accuracy of over 99%, but in the future as well We need more data to support the observation results. "