Everyday Science

An artist`s rendition of the huge planet NGTS-1b, left, with its neighbouring sun -- a discovery that challenges existing theories on how planets are created. Photo: Yahoo. A "monster" planet, which should in theory not exist, has been discovered orbiting a faint dwarf star far, far away, surprised astronomers said Tuesday. The existence of the gassy giant challenges long-standing theories that such a big planet -- about the size of Jupiter -- cannot be formed around a star so small. The star has a radius and mass about half that of the sun. Theory had predicted that small stars can form rocky planets, "but do not gather enough material together to form Jupiter-sized planets," Britain's Royal Astronomical Society said in a statement. Planets are thought to form as gas and dust left over from massive galactic explosions, and swirling in disks around newborn stars, clump together to form bodies. The planet was discovered by the Next-Generation...

Ross 128b A new extrasolar system planet can be added to a handful of fellow exoplanets which could theoretically support life, the European Southern Observatory said Wednesday. The ESO said it had discovered the planet, Ross 128b, orbiting a star within the constellation of Virgo and it is comparatively ‘close’ at just 11 light years outside the Solar System. One light year is equivalent to 9.46 trillion kilometres (5.85 trillion miles). But in inter-galactic terms that is not so far, says Xavier Bonfils, an astronomer for the French CNRS research centre at the Grenoble Observatory for Sciences of the Universe. “Ross 128b is very close, which will allow us to see it with a telescope such as E-ELT (European Extremely Large Telescope) in construction for 2025,” Bonfils told AFP. Researchers say Ross 128b could potentially harbour life, as it has a similar mass to that of Earth—a multiple of 1.35 -- and “its surface temperature could equally be close to that of Earth”. ...