Distant planets. Distant worlds of exoplanets

We have all heard about the seven wonders of our planet, but I think not everyone knows about the seven wonders of space, so let's get to know them better today ...

1.planet of X-ray and ultraviolet radiation

The first exoplanet, i.e. a planet that is not part of the solar system was discovered back in 1992. This unfriendly planet orbits a pulsar. A pulsar is a magnetized neutron star spinning like a whirligig. She was once one of the usual suns, and now she is old and dying. No, and there can be no chance of finding life in any form on such a planet, because the pulsar star floods everything around with X-rays and ultraviolet rays. high level... Be that as it may, the very deadly world with all this can look pretty pretty.

Second miracle: the planet-core

A planet with a high density of matter can be easily detected using a powerful modern telescope. Astronomers believe that the universe contains a mass of all-iron planets. That is, from which only a metal core remained as a result of space "adventures". On such heavenly body Our Mercury is very similar - 40% of its volume is occupied by the "core", similar to a huge cannonball.

The third miracle: the sky in diamonds

If the search for a giant cannonball is boring, what can you say about the sparkling new world of pure carbon - the modification of it called diamond. A diamond planet could form in a carbon-rich star system. Such bodies are already known to science. Some cold suns revolve around the planets, the surface of which consists of graphite, and in the depths, due to strong pressure, a diamond core has formed! One such planet can pay off all the debts of mankind to mankind.

Astronomers know where to look for such planets - in orbits around white dwarfs and neutron stars where the ratio of carbon to oxygen is very high. For example, carbon planets are found in the PSR 1257 + 12 pulsar system.

On the other hand, it is impossible to determine whether there are diamonds inside such celestial bodies. Moreover, the atmosphere of coal planets should be cloudy, like smoke from a chimney.

The volcanic eruptions of such planets can "spit" diamonds to the surface, forming diamond mountain ranges and even entire valleys.

The fourth miracle: the planets are gas balls

Most of open to people planets are gas giants. For example, frozen like Jupiter. But there are also so-called "hot Jupiters" that orbit near their suns.

For example, 51 Pegasus B - gas giant larger than Saturn. The atmosphere of 51 Pegasus B is an extremely dense planet, and the temperature on its surface reaches 1100 C. At this temperature, glass quickly turns into silicate vapor.

Fifth wonder: oceans planets

Exoplanet GJ 1214b may turn out to be a giant ocean. Measurements of its temperature, mass and radius indicate that there is a small stone core inside the planet, and everything else - more than 75% of the substance - is liquid water.

The water world has a powerful gravitational field, so water at a temperature of about 200 degrees Celsius remains hot without boiling away. Planet GJ 1214b orbits a red star. Its orbit is strongly elongated, so "in winter" the huge bottomless ocean freezes completely.

Sixth Miracle: Hell

If Hell really existed, then it would definitely be on this planet.
In the galaxy Milky Way there is one very warm place. This hot planet is so close to its sun that the star feeds on it. This exoplanet is called WASP-12b (constellation Auriga) and it will never break free from the tenacious "paws" of its yellow sun (which is one and a half times larger than ours) until it roasts it and eats up the last electron.

The hot planet is shaped like a rugby ball. The temperature on its surface reaches 1500 degrees. It weighs 40 times more than Jupiter.

Seventh wonder: Earth

Earth (lat.Terra) - the third planet from the Sun Solar system, the largest in diameter, mass and density among the terrestrial planets.

Who would have doubted! After all, we just got used to it, to everything beautiful and unusual earthly: that which floats in deep oceans and what grows under the hot sun. What makes us find in ourselves hidden forces, that which amuses, and that which frightens to the depths of the soul.

If the Earth dies, it will be the saddest loss for the Universe. So let's take care of it, our planet, to the best of our strength, mind and love!

Protoplanetary disk

An exoplanet is a planet orbiting a star outside the solar system. Due to their small size, the first exoplanets were discovered only in the late 1980s. Nowadays a little less than two thousand such planets have been discovered.
Just like Earth, exoplanets are formed from a protoplanetary disk. It is a rotating circumstellar disk of dense gas around a young, newly formed star. Undoubtedly, alien worlds are very unusual and their capabilities and properties surpass the most daring fantastic ideas.

HL Taurus and a protoplanetary disk with planets

The youngest exoplanets

The European Southern Observatory, using the Atacama Large telescope, has recorded a unique planetary birth process around the young star HL in the constellation Taurus.

This sensational new image shows discernible, incredibly fine details of the protoplanetary disk, which are composed of the remnants of a protostellar cloud and have clear signs the presence of several planets. In addition, you can see a series of concentric bright rings, which are separated by dark stripes.
The star HL Taurus is located 520 light years from Earth. It is no more than a million years old, but its disk is already full of forming planets. Perhaps this discovery will revolutionize the theory of planetary formation.

British astronomers have discovered a planet near the star - HL Taurus b. It has a mass of about 14 that of Jupiter and revolves around the parent star at a distance twice the orbit of Neptune. It is the youngest known on this moment planets.

Exoplanet LkCa15 b

Astronomers were able to see the planet at the time of its formation, which made it possible to come closer to understanding the formation of extrasolar systems.
In 2007, they discovered a massive protoplanetary disk around the star LkCa 15, located between the constellations Taurus and Auriga, about 470 light-years from Earth. The star LkCa 15 has a mass comparable to that of the Sun and is only about two million years old. A young and bright variable star is heated by gravitational compression energy. This phase precedes the initiation of thermonuclear reactions.

Scientists have carried out long-term observations of LkCa 15 in the infrared range using the adaptive optics system installed on the 10-meter Kek II telescope. As a result, the planet LKCA 15 b (Ice Jupiter) was discovered in 2011, which revolves around the observed star in a circular orbit and has a mass equal to six times the mass of Jupiter. This giant is composed of dust and gas and has a temperature of less than minus 170 degrees Celsius.
According to the authors of the study, the orbital period of the young planet is about 90 years. It is possible that there are other, less bright planets in the LkCa 15 system, which remain invisible to telescopes.
It is one of the youngest planetary systems currently observed.

Exoplanet 2M1207b and a brown dwarf. Infrared image.

The first exoplanet discovered. Or a star?

Exoplanet 2M1207b orbits the brown dwarf 2M1207 in the constellation Hydra, about 170 light-years from Earth. It is notable for being the first candidate for an extrasolar planet, directly observable from Earth (in infrared light). The object was discovered in April 2004 with the large VLT telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile.
Disputes are still going on - is it a star, or an exoplanet? The International Astronomical Union Extrasolar Planets Working Group describes 2M1207b as "possibly a planetary mass companion of a brown dwarf."
The planet is huge, it is a gas giant that turned out to be unsuitable for the origin of life, since its surface temperature is approximately 1600 ° C.

Exoplanet HD85512b

Planets that can be inhabited

This planet was discovered using the European Southern Observatory's HARPS instrument. A rocky, earth-like planet orbits an orange dwarf 36 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sails. The force of gravity on the surface of this planet is only 1.4 times higher than that of the Earth, and most importantly, there may be water there with a high degree of probability.
The newly found exoplanet HD85512b is three times more massive than Earth and, accordingly, has a larger diameter.

If we transfer this planet to our solar system, it would be located a little further from the Sun than Venus, but closer than the Earth. The planet has a comfortable temperature that allows water to exist in liquid form. Moderate cloud cover, covering 50% of the planet's surface (for comparison, the average for the Earth is 60%), reflects enough energy into space. The clouds themselves, possibly water, and the planet's atmosphere is nitrogen-oxygen. But these are all guesses based only on the location of the new super-earth relative to its star, its mass and the known patterns in the formation of planets.

HD85512b has two more factors that support potential habitability. An almost circular orbit (hence a stable climate) and a long age. This system is 5.6 billion years old, in contrast to our solar system, which is about 4.6 billion. This is enough time for life to develop on an exoplanet.

View of the planet Gliese 667Cd (drawing by ESO / M. Kornmesser)

Three planets in the Goldilocks zone

The inhabited zone, or the zone of life in English-language literature is called the Goldilocks zone after the heroine of the fairy tale, known in Russian as "The Three Bears".
In the tale, Goldilocks tries to choose objects from three sets, in one of which the objects turn out to be too large (hard, hot) in the other - very small (soft, cold), and in the third - “just right”. Likewise, in order to be in the habitable zone, the planet must be neither too far from the star, nor too close to it, but at the "correct" distance.

Exoplanet Gliese 667

Around the cold red dwarf Gliese 667C, three exoplanets were discovered at once inside the Goldilocks zone. Thus, the habitable zone of Gliese 667C is filled to the limit. Such faint and cold stars have it much closer than the Sun.

The star is part of the Gliese 667 triple system, located at a distance of almost 23 light-years in the constellation Scorpio. The other two companions are brighter orange dwarfs and are visible from the surface of the planets even during the day.
All three planets are super-earths. Super-Earth is a class of planets whose mass exceeds the mass of the Earth, but significantly less than the mass of the gas giants. Liquid water may be present on the surface of exoplanets.

Exoplanets Kepler-62e and Kepler-62 f, or Morning Star

Exoplanet similar to Venus

Kepler-62 is a solitary star in the constellation Lyra. This orange dwarf is about 1200 light-years from the Sun and has a mass of about 69% of the mass of the Sun, and the age of the star is estimated at 7 billion years.

In 2013, Kepler-62 discovered five exoplanets, of which the planets Kepler-62 e and Kepler-62 f are in the habitable zone. The planets are about one and a half times the size of the Earth, so they are most likely solid and have an atmosphere. Planet Kepler-62 e may turn out to be completely hidden by the ocean, as it orbits quite close to the star and is larger than Earth. The planet Kepler-62 f may appear similar to Venus, hidden under a thick atmosphere of greenhouse gases. Scientists believe that conditions for life exist on the last two planets.

Exoplanet Kapteyn b

The closest and oldest planet in the habitable zone

Kaptein's star is a solitary star in the constellation Painter. Located at a distance of approximately
13 light-years from the Sun. It was discovered in 1897 by Jacobus Kaptein, after whom it got its name. It ranks 25th in proximity to Earth.
The star is a red subdwarf that emits light 250 times less than the Sun and has a mass of about a quarter of our star. In addition, the star is moving in reverse side in the galaxy, unlike most other stars, and at the same time has a high speed of movement.

An international team of researchers has discovered two unique ancient exoplanets, Kaptein b and Kaptein c, orbiting Kaptein's star. Captain b is found in the habitable zone, which is the oldest and one of the closest potentially inhabited systems. It is about 11.5 billion years old and only 2 billion years younger than the universe itself.

The planet Kapteyn b is a super-earth, its mass is five times the mass of our planet. The water on it may be in liquid state... The period of revolution around the star is 48 days. Astronomers believe this planet could be habitable. During its existence, life could well have arisen on a celestial body, because the conditions for this are quite favorable.

Another exoplanet, Kapteyn c, is farther from the star, has a large mass, and has a fairly low temperature.

Exo-Uranus

A planet like Uranus

For the first time, astronomers have announced the discovery of an exoplanet that they believe is similar to one of the solar system's ice giants - Uranus or Neptune.
Radek Poleski and his team at Ohio State University have identified an alien world orbiting a binary star system 25,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. This exoplanet has a Uranus-like orbit and characteristics that could make it the first planet to have the composition of Uranus.
Uranus and Neptune differ from the other two gas giants in the solar system (Jupiter and Saturn) in that their thick atmospheres contain great amount methane ice, which gives these planets a bluish tint. The orbital distance of Uranus and Neptune forced these planets to follow an icy evolution.

“No one really knows exactly why Uranus and Neptune are on the outskirts of the solar system, whereas our models show they should have formed closer to the sun,” says Andrew Gould, a research scientist based in Ohio. "One hypothesis is that they were formed much closer, but then were 'shifted' by Jupiter and Saturn to the margins of the solar system."

This distant exo-Uranus was discovered as the planet moved in front of its parent star. At the same time, the gravitational field, which deforms space-time, has created the so-called microlensing effect.
"Only microlensing can help detect these cold ice giants like Uranus and Neptune, which are located far from their parent stars," Poleski says. "This discovery shows that planets in very distant orbits can be detected using the microlensing effect."

Exoplanet KOI-314

Mini Neptune

Astronomers discovered in January 2014 the planet KOI-314 c with the same mass as Earth, but this is where the similarities end. Not only is the planet too hot for liquid water to exist on its surface, but it also has a radius of approximately 1.6 times that of the Earth. That is, its density is significantly less and it turned out to be an airy mini-neptune with an extended atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.

The planet orbits the red dwarf KOI-314 in the constellation Lyra in 23.089 days.
According to its characteristics, it belongs to the class of super-lands located between gas giant planets and terrestrial planets. It's too hot, so none of the known life forms on Earth can survive in such conditions. The planet's temperature is 154 degrees Celsius.

Exoplanets in the Messier Cluster

Are there planets in star clusters?

The number of known exoplanets is about two thousand, but only a few are in star clusters. One of them, a fairly ancient cluster of stars, is located in the constellation Cancer at a distance of 2,700 light years. Astronomers in Germany have subjected 88 stars from the Messier 67 cluster to a rigorous six-year analysis. A meticulous search has revealed three extrasolar planets.
The first of them is remarkable in that its parent star is one of the few "solar twins" found so far - it is almost completely identical to the Sun in all respects. This is the first "twin of the Sun" in a star cluster, which discovered a planet.

Two of the three planets found belong to the type of "hot Jupiters" - they are comparable to Jupiter in size, but are located much closer to their stars and therefore much hotter.
But all three planets are closer to their stars than the inner boundaries of the "habitat" of these stars - regions of space within which the existence of liquid water is possible.
“Our new results suggest that planets are about as common in open star clusters as isolated stars, they just aren't easy to register,” concludes Luca Pascini of ESO (Garching, Germany), co-author of the study. “These results contradict more early works, during which the planets in the clusters could not be detected. We continue to observe this cluster in order to find out how the stars with planets and those without them differ in mass and chemical composition ”.

Planet TrES-2b in the constellation Draco

Blackest planet

The exoplanet TrES-2b was discovered in August 2006. It orbits a star in the constellation Draco, 750 light-years from Earth.

The orbit of this mysterious exoplanet lies at a distance of four million kilometers from the star,

which is 10 times less than the distance from Mercury to the Sun. In this case, the planet has a mass equal to 1.1 times the mass of Jupiter.
Analysis of photometric data showed that the planet reflects only about one percent of the light incident on it from the parent star, making TrES-2 the blackest planet known. According to scientists, to an observer who happened to be close to the planet, it would seem "blacker than black acrylic paint."

The star heats the planet to a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius and its atmosphere contains gaseous sodium, potassium and titanium oxide, which absorb light well.
But this heat leads to the fact that the exoplanet still emits a faint red glow, reminiscent of burning coals.

Exoplanet COROT-7b

Two worlds of one planet

This exoplanet (super-earth) was discovered in early 2009 in the constellation Unicorn.
It orbits the star COROT-7, which is slightly smaller than the Sun and is 489 light-years from Earth.
COROT-7b is in tidal capture of the star COROT-7, that is, the planet is always turned to the luminary by one side, therefore the conditions on the illuminated and unlit sides are very different. The dark side of COROT-7b is most likely covered with a thick layer of ice, but the other side is a huge ocean of molten lava, whose temperature is 2600 ° C. The atmosphere is mainly composed of evaporated rock, in upper layers it solidifies again and falls on the surface of the exoplanet in the form of a stone rain.

Exoplanet Kepler-16b

Planet with multiple orbits

In the Kepler-16 AB system, astronomers have discovered a planet with a multiple orbit, which does not revolve around a single star (as, for example, the Earth around the Sun), but around double star... The path of the planet in this case is formed depending on the orbit around the two stars.
This means that when the day ends on the planet Kepler-16b, a double sunset can be observed there, according to NASA scientists.
They found that the light from both parts of the double star dims in different time, but with a recurring regularity, which confirms the rotation of the planet around both stars.

Planet Kepler-16b looks like planet Tatooine from the movie saga " star Wars", but Luke hardly lives there.
Skywalker or someone else.
The fact is that it is an uninhabited gas giant, similar to Saturn. It is separated from Earth about 200 light years.

“This is a really amazing Kepler discovery,” says Alan Boss of Scientific Institute Carnegie. "It's really exciting that there is a planet somewhere orbiting two stars at once."

Star Cluster Messier 67 Harbors Planets | Fly-through animation

The planet is a fairly massive object orbiting the Sun, capable of providing spherical shape orbits. Is not a companion of another body; clears the space of its orbit from other celestial bodies.

In addition to the Earth, the solar system has eight more celestial bodies, which include:

In contact with

classmates

• objects of the terrestrial group (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars);
• giant planets;
• Pluto.

Until recently, the most distant planet from the Sun was the ninth Pluto. But in 2006, after careful observation, astronomers decided to remove it from the list of planets. He also lost this definition from 1979 to 1999, when he orbited Neptune. There is an assumption that it does not belong to the solar system at all. Therefore, Neptune is considered the farthest planet from the Sun.

This is interesting: and the history of the names.

Description of Neptune

Neptune belongs to the group of giant planets, it is 17 times larger than Earth. This group also includes Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter.

The illumination of Neptune is 900 times less than that of the Earth, so there is a constant twilight. The distance from the Earth is almost 5,000,000,000 km.

The planet farthest from the Sun is also called icy, since it contains about 20% helium and hydrogen.

The day here lasts a little over 16 hours. Neptune makes a complete revolution in 164 years. In 2011, the first turnover ended.

Strong winds blow on Neptune. Surface temperature - minus 214 degrees... It has its own source of heat, since it distributes more energy than it absorbs. Neptune has five rings of ice particles and carbon. On the planet, the duration of one season is 40 years.

The most distant planet in the solar system is rich in satellites. She has fourteen of them.

They are divided into groups:

• internal (Talasa, Naiad, Proteus, Galatea, Larisa, Despina);
• separate (Nereid and Triton);
• external (do not have a name).

The inner ones describe themselves as irregularly shaped boulders. They reach 200 km in diameter. They fly around Neptune in a matter of hours, as they rotate at great speed.

Triton - large satellite, reaches almost 3000 km in diameter. Covered with ice, makes a full turn in 6 days. It slowly approaches Neptune moving in a spiral. Scientists believe that Triton will soon collide with Neptune and turn into a ring.

Nereid has an irregular shape, makes a complete revolution in an earth year.

The outer satellites are tens of millions of kilometers away from Neptune. The farthest orbits the planet in 25 years.

Pluto is the most distant planet from Earth

WITH primary grades At school, every child knows that the Earth is the third planet in the solar system, and Pluto is considered the farthest planet from the Earth.

Since the discovery of Pluto the debate about whether it is a planet continues. There are many arguments that prevent it from being considered a planet:

• small size (Pluto's mass is 0.22% of the Earth's);
• is far from the Earth (because of this, it is impossible to study it well);
• constantly changing orbit (because of this, Pluto found itself either in front of Neptune, then behind it).

Due to its remoteness and small size, Pluto remained the most unexplored object. But with the advent of powerful telescopes and expeditions, it was possible to study it more thoroughly.

Pluto is located in the Kuiper belt at a distance of 6,000,000,000 km from the Earth, its diameter is 2300 km. It makes a complete revolution in 248 years. The day is 6.5 Earth days. Surface temperature - minus 223 degrees. This celestial body is interesting in that one side of it is covered with ice, and the other - with stones. The sun heats the surface a thousand times less than the surface of the Earth, so it is always dark on the planet, but we still managed to see a heart-shaped region on the planet - an area covered icy mountains up to 4 m high.

Pluto has an atmosphere of nitrogen. Research has shown that the atmosphere is evaporating into space. This is reminiscent of the process taking place on Earth billions of years ago: the evaporation of nitrogen led to the formation of carbon and carbon dioxide and the origin of life ...

Pluto's surface has many craters filled with frozen gases (nitrogen and methane). Their formation can be explained by collisions with asteroids.

Moons of Pluto

Pluto has five moons: this is Charon, Hydra, Styx, Nikta, Kerber. Charon is the largest satellite. Its movement is synchronous with Pluto (some astronomers consider them a double planet), the axes of rotation of the other satellites tilt towards Pluto and Charon. The satellites are irregular in shape, bright, possibly covered with water ice.

Despite Pluto's demotion to the rank of a dwarf planet, it has not ceased to be interesting. Astronomers continue to discover new objects in the Kuiper belt that are larger than Pluto. For example, Eris, Ceres. It is possible that one of these objects will soon become the most distant planet from the Sun in the solar system.