- HD 26965 b, additionally nicknamed Vulcan after the well-known planet in Star Trek, was thought to orbit the sun-like star 40 Eridani A, 16 light-years away. However some astronomers had doubts.
- A brand new research from astronomers utilizing telescopes at Kitt Peak Nationwide Observatory confirmed the planet is probably going simply an astronomical phantasm and doesn’t actually exist.
- Whereas disappointing, there are nonetheless 1000’s of different confirmed exoplanets that astronomers have found.
Vulcan was simply an phantasm
Now you see it, now you don’t. In 2018, astronomers mentioned that they had discovered an exoplanet orbiting the sun-like star 40 Eridani A. It didn’t take lengthy for the planet to earn the nickname Vulcan, the house planet of Spock in Star Trek. That’s as a result of the fictional Vulcan supposedly orbited the star 40 Eridani A, too. However on Could 28, 2024, a workforce of researchers utilizing telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona said a brand new research exhibits the planet by no means actually existed in any respect. It was an astronomical phantasm.
The analysis workforce, led by Abigail Burrows at Dartmouth School in Hanover, New Hampshire, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, published their peer-reviewed leads to The Astronomical Journal on April 26, 2024.
An actual-life exoplanet Vulcan?
Discovering a doable planet across the star 40 Eridani A – made well-known in Star Trek – was thrilling. Certainly, the science fiction model of the planet, Vulcan, was a well known staple of Star Trek lore as Spock’s house world. And there may really be an actual planet orbiting that star. And it was solely 16 light-years away. Scientists gave it the scientific identify HD 26965 b. However after the unique discovery in 2018, some astronomers had doubts. In reality, some research recommended it didn’t actually exist in any respect.
Even the astronomers who made the preliminary doable detection of the real-life Vulcan cautioned it may not be actual.
HD 26965 b was considered a “super-Earth.” That’s, a planet bigger than Earth, however smaller than Neptune. It orbited its star each 42 days.
A brand new seek for Vulcan
Now, new evaluation has not solely added to the earlier doubts, it has just about squashed the thought of HD 26965 b being an actual planet. The researchers used high-precision radial velocity measurements that had not been obtainable in 2018. They used a more moderen radial velocity instrument known as NEID, at Kitt Peak Nationwide Observatory. It makes use of the Doppler effect to measure shifts within the gentle spectrum of a star. These shifts can reveal slight wobbling motions because of the gravitational pull of planets.
An astronomical phantasm
The researchers seemed for the sign of the planet at numerous wavelengths of sunshine coming from the star. In so doing, they discovered one thing not fairly proper. There have been variations between the person wavelength measurements and the total measurement once they have been mixed collectively. What did that imply?
It recommended the Doppler sign of the planet was as a substitute one thing “flickering” on the floor of the star itself. This coincided with the noticed 42-day rotation. It may very well be attributable to convection, the motion of hotter and cooler layers beneath the star’s floor. Star spots – like our sun’s sunspots – and plages may additionally play a job. Plages are vibrant areas, sort of the other of darkish star spots. Plage is the French phrase for seaside.
Basically, the planet was an astronomical phantasm. Because the paper concluded:
… the seemingly origin of the periodic sign seen in HD 26965 is stellar exercise.
40 Eridani A is one in every of three stars within the 40 Eridani system, within the constellation Eridanus the River. If there was a planet orbiting 40 Eridani A, the opposite two stars would shine brightly in its sky. 40 Eridani B is a white dwarf star, whereas 40 Eridani C is a red dwarf.
Nonetheless quite a lot of exoplanets on the market
The brand new and improved radial velocity measurements may also assist astronomers establish different false constructive exoplanets, which is an efficient factor. However to not fear, there are nonetheless 1000’s of confirmed exoplanets astronomers have discovered. And there shall be many extra within the months and years forward.
Backside line: Astronomers thought there is perhaps a real-life model of the well-known Star Trek exoplanet Vulcan orbiting the star 40 Eridani A. However a brand new research exhibits it’s not actual.
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