Commenting on the discovery of a ‘super Earth’ planet orbiting a nearby star, space expert Dr Kathryn Harriss says that although the discovery is exciting, it should be seen as a very different place to our Earth.
Commenting on the discovery of a ‘super Earth’ planet orbiting a nearby star, space expert Dr Kathryn Harriss says that although the discovery is exciting, it should be seen as a very different place to our Earth.
Dr Harriss, of the University’s Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, commented: ‘Any new discovery of an exoplanet around a star is exciting and finding one in orbit around one of our nearest neighbours, Barnard’s star just 6 light years away, is particularly exciting.
‘This star and planet would be a perfect target for continued studies to find out more about them both as the star is a similar, just older version of our own sun.
‘However, the planet does not lie in the habitable zone – where water would be liquid on the planet’s surface – of the star, meaning that though called a ‘super earth’ (it’s mass being 3.2 times larger than Earths) it would be a very different planet to Earth.
‘The data suggests that is it a rocky planet with a large atmosphere orbiting at the point of the snow line (at 0. 4 AU) for Barnard’s star, meaning many of the volatiles would be frozen.
‘This discovery shows that our quest to learn more about the universe is far from over, and that we still have plenty to explore and discover.’
Dr Kathryn Harriss is a research associate within the School of Physical Sciences.
The University’s Press Office provides the media with expert comments in response to topical news events. Colleagues who would like to learn more about how to contribute their expertise or how the service works should contact the Press Office on 3985 or pressoffice@kent.ac.uk