Floating in streams of young stars, astronomers have spotted three Earth-like neighboring planets, orbiting a younger version of our own sun.
The team discovered the young, hot world using ideas from NASA’s Satellite Survey Transiting Exoplanet (TESS), according to a new study in the Astronomical Journal. The planets change into a star called TOI 451.
The system is located in the recently discovered stellar Pisces-Eridanus streams, which are less than 3% of the age of our solar system, stretching over a third of the sky. The so-called star-shaped rivers form when the heaviness of our galaxy, the Milky Way, tears apart divisions of stars and erratic galaxies, forming a long, still-spreading group of into a stream over time.
“This system checks a lot of boxes for astronauts,” lead researcher Elisabeth Newton said in a statement Friday. “It is only 120 million years old and just 400 light-years away, allowing a detailed consideration of this young planetary system. And since there are three planets between two and four times the size of the Earth, they make very promising targets for trying out theories about how the planet’s atmosphere evolves. “
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
The Pisces-Eridanus, named for the constellations with the largest number of stars, stretches over 14 constellations in total – measuring around 1,300 light-years.
Astronomers have determined it is only 120 million years old – eight times younger than previous estimates. The young age makes it particularly inspiring to study the shape and evolution of a planet and a star.
The star of the system, TOI 451, also known as CD-38 1467, is located in the constellation Eridanus, about 400 light-years away. We have 95% of the mass of the sun, but it is 12% smaller, slightly colder and emits 35% less energy.
TOI 451 orbits every 5.1 days – five hours faster than the sun.
“The sun of the recently discovered planets is more like a teenager compared to our own sun. That means its planets are still changing and evolving,” Newton said.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
The three planets are very hot and unstable to life as we know it, tearing their star three times closer than Mercury can ever get to our sun. Temperature estimates range from about 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit for the innermost planet to around 840 F for the outermost.
The nearest planet revolves around the star about every 2 days, with the farthest orbit around every 16 days. They range in size from Earth to Neptune.
Although there are more than 4,000 known planets outside our solar system, most of them are older and far further from Earth than the newly discovered system. According to the research team, only seven other juvenile systems with multiple transmission planets have ever been discovered.
The trip gives astronauts a rare opportunity to study a growing group of planets. Researchers plan to continue exploring the planets using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and its prospective astronaut, the James Webb space telescope, to study how systems such as our own solar system evolve.
“By studying these planets in the context of others, we can build the picture of how planets shape and evolve,” Newton said.