New Jupiter-size exoplanet discovered

New Jupiter-size exoplanet discovered

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Space technology

Concept :

• An international team of scientists led by Prof. Abhijit Chakraborty at the Exoplanet Research Group of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad has discovered a new Jupiter-sized exoplanet.

About the exoplanet

• A new Jupiter-sized exoplanet with the highest density of ~14 g/cm3 known to date has been discovered.
• The new exoplanet discovered has a mass that is 13 times that of Jupiter.
• This discovery was made using the indigenously developed PRL Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search spectrograph (PARAS) and PRL2m telescope at Gurushikhar Observatory located in Mt. Abu.
• The team of scientists involved in the discovery includes researchers from India, Germany, Switzerland and the US.
• The new exoplanet discovered was found around the star called TOI4603 or HD 245134.
• This newly discovered exoplanet “TOI 4603b” is regarded as one of the most massive and densest giant planets that orbits very close to its host star at a distance less than 1/10th the distance between our Sun and Earth.
• This newly discovered planet falls into the transition mass range of massive giant planets and low-mass brown dwarfs.
• Massive giant exoplanets are those having mass greater than four times that of Jupiter.
• Low-mass brown dwarfs are those having mass equal to 13 times the mass of Jupiter.
• The exoplanet with a surface temperature of 1670 K is said to be undergoing high-eccentricity tidal migration with an eccentricity value of approximately 0.3.
• The discovery also marks the third exoplanet discovery by India, and by the PRL scientists using PARAS spectrograph and the PRL 1.2m telescope, following the discoveries of K2-236b (in 2018) and TOI-1789b (in 2021).
• The finding of such exoplanets provides valuable information about the formation, migration, and evolution mechanisms of massive exoplanets.