“Finding
Kepler-421b was a stroke of luck. The farther a planet is from its star, the
less likely it is to transit the star from Earth's point of view. It has to
line up just right”
Lead author from
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dr
David Kipping, commenting on the discovery of exoplanet Kepler-421b orbiting
the Red Dwarf Star Kepler-421 some 1,000 Light Years away in the Constellation
Lyra
Remember
our hope for Life on another planet with the discovery of exoplanet Kepler-186f
orbiting an M dwarf Star Kepler-186 in the Constellation Cygnus as chronicled
in my blog
article entitled “NASA
discovers earth-like exoplanet Kepler-186f in the Constellation Cygnus - 500
light years is awfully far distance to buy beachfront property”?
Well,
a team led by Lead author and Astronomer Dr. David Kipping of the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts has
discovered yet another exoplanet in the same region being scanned by the Kepler
Space Telescope as reported in “Kepler-421b:
Astronomers Discover Exoplanet with Longest Known Year”, published Jul 22,
2014 by Sci-News.com.
 |
Dubbed
Kepler-421b, it orbits the Red Dwarf Star Kepler-421 some 1,000 Light Years
away in the Constellation Lyra every 704 Earth days or 1 Earth Year and 11
months, the longest measured transition orbit for an Exoplanet discovered thus
far as stated in “Newfound
Alien Planet Has Longest Year Known for Transiting World”, published July
22, 2014 07:01am ET By Mike Wall, Senior Writer, Space.com.
That’s
what makes this latest discovery extraordinary! The exoplanet Kepler-421b is a
Gas Giant the size of Uranus that has an orbital period of 704 Earth days or 1
Earth Year and 11 months as stated in “704
days: Exoplanet discovered with longest known year”, published July 24,
2014 8:25 a.m. EDT by Jolie Lee, USA TODAY..
With
such a long period, I'm personally surprised that they discovered it at all, as
the Kepler Space Telescope detects planetary orbits based on transitions in
front of the star that causes a dip in the luminosity of that star. With such a
long planetary period, exoplanet Kepler-421b caused only two (2) transition
blips when the planet came between the Star and the Kepler Space Telescope.
Dr. David Kipping and exoplanet Kepler-421b – Lucky Double 6 in
a Game of Galactic Dice
That's
a very lucky chance indeed, as only a very patient team led by Lead author and
Astronomer Dr. David Kipping combing through months and months of the Kepler
Space Telescope data would have noticed these dips in the luminosity separated
by 704 Earth days or 1 Earth Year and 11 months!
Even
more impressive is that it's a Gas giant, given that the furthest distance of
its elliptical orbit is some 100 million miles (160 million kilometers) or
about 1.07 AU from Red Dwarf Star Kepler-421, hasn’t run away, being knocked
out of orbit by planetary collisions or large asteroids.
At
those distances, for that particular Solar System based on the Red Dwarf Star
Kepler-421, exoplanet Kepler-421b is beyond the point where scientists expect
to find Gas Giant Stars still orbiting their host star, to quote Astronomer Dr.
David Kippin: “This is the first example of a potentially non-migrating gas
giant in a transiting system that we've found”.
A
good example of which was Gliese 832 c, located 16.1 Light years orbiting a Red
Dwarf Star Gliese 832 in the Constellation Grus as declared in my blog article
entitled “Dr.
Robert Wittenmyer Team discovers Gliese 832 c – Supersize my Exoplanet Please
with a Serving of Super-Venus”.
Still,
with more and more discoveries being made from the Kepler Space Telescope Data
during its downtime since 2009, nothing surprises me anymore as it's clearly a
remarkeable find. Next time, though, I'd not mind if they could find an
exoplanet that's got the potential for life.
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