Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky Exoplanet

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Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky Exoplanet

Post by bystander » Fri Jul 31, 2015 7:08 pm

Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky Exoplanet
NASA | JPL-Caltech | Spitzer | 2015 July 30
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[c]Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DSS[/c][hr][/hr]
Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have confirmed the discovery of the nearest rocky planet outside our solar system, larger than Earth and a potential gold mine of science data.

Dubbed HD 219134b, this exoplanet, which orbits too close to its star to sustain life, is a mere 21 light-years away. While the planet itself can't be seen directly, even by telescopes, the star it orbits is visible to the naked eye in dark skies in the Cassiopeia constellation, near the North Star.

HD 219134b is also the closest exoplanet to Earth to be detected transiting, or crossing in front of, its star and, therefore, perfect for extensive research.

"Transiting exoplanets are worth their weight in gold because they can be extensively characterized," said Michael Werner, the project scientist for the Spitzer mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "This exoplanet will be one of the most studied for decades to come."

The planet, initially discovered using HARPS-North instrument on the Italian 3.6-meter Galileo National Telescope in the Canary Islands, is the subject of a study accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. ...

Cassiopeia's Hidden Gem: The Closest Rocky, Transiting Planet
Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics | 2015 July 30

An exceptional planetary system discovered in Cassiopeia
University of Geneva, SZ | 2015 July 30

The HARPS-N Rocky Planet Search I. HD219134b: A transiting rocky planet in a multi-planet system at 6.5 pc from the Sun - F. Motalebi et al
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