PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Bright star reveals new exoplanet

2014-01-22
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Vincent Van Eylen
vincent@phys.au.dk
(45) 50-11-67-38
Aarhus University
Bright star reveals new exoplanet

By studying the star around which the planet revolves, they found that the star's rotation appears to be well-aligned with the planetary movement. The object can be well-studied because the star is relatively bright, it can be seen if strong binoculars are used. The planet orbits one star of what appears to be a binary star, and the orbit is not circular but slightly eccentric. The planet is a bit larger than our Earth, with a radius of about 2.8 times that of our planet. With a period of around 18 days, it is much closer to its star than Earth is to our sun, and therefore unlikely to be suitable for life due to its high temperature. Perturbations on the discovered planet indicate that there is likely another, as of yet unknown planet in the system.

After the first discovery of the first exoplanet (a planet around which doesn't orbit our Sun, but another star), the number of planets has increased up to around 1000 currently known exoplanets. Kepler-410A b is interesting because it can be studied in detail. It has been observed for four years with the Kepler space telescope, a NASA satellite which has monitored the brightness of more than 150.000 stars simultaneously, to look for small regularly-recurring dips in the light, which are indicative of the presence of an exoplanet.

The exquisite quality of the Kepler data has allowed a very detailed study of the host star. On top of that, the star is rather bright; it is in fact the third brightest exoplanet host star discovered by Kepler. This has allowed the team to study tiny variations in the stellar brightness caused by stellar pulsations, a technique which is called asteroseismology. Thereby they have been able to measure stellar properties such as its mass and radius to an accuracy of a few percent.

"Ultimately, to understand anything about exoplanets, we need to understand the stars they revolve around. In this case, asteroseismology has even allowed us to measure the inclination angle of the star. We now know we are looking at the equator of the star, not at the pole. This can be compared with the orbit of the planet to learn about planetary formation. The star is around 2.7 giga-years old and is a little larger than the Sun. We will never be able to go there, as it is located at around 425 lightyears from Earth," says lead author Vincent Van Eylen.

Because of the brightness of the star, it is a suitable target for further observations. The team has accurately measured the times of transit and found it doesn't cross the star exactly every 17.8 days, but is slightly perturbed: the planet is sometimes up to 15 minutes late or early. These perturbations indicate that there could be another planet present, slightly pulling or pushing Kepler-410A b around.

"We are confident that there is another planet, but because it doesn't move in front of the star, we don't yet know what it is like," says Vincent Van Eylen.

INFORMATION:

The findings are published in Astrophysical Journal. The international team consists of 15 people from 7 different universities. Lead author Vincent Van Eylen is a PhD student at Aarhus University in Denmark, and he is also associated to the KU Leuven. The work originates from his master project, which he undertook in Aarhus as part of an Erasmus exchange year.

Vincent Van Eyen regularly blogs at Scilogs.be, a blog portal by the magazine EOS.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Drug alternatives to antibiotics may not be perfect, study shows

2014-01-22
Drug alternatives to antibiotics may not be perfect, study shows New types of drug intended for use in place of antibiotics have been given a cautious welcome by scientists. Researchers have been probing the long-term effectiveness of drugs currently ...

From a carpet of nanorods to a thin film solar cell absorber within a few seconds

2014-01-22
From a carpet of nanorods to a thin film solar cell absorber within a few seconds This news release is available in German. Research teams at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and at the University of Limerick, ...

Xpert® MTB/RIF assay for pulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in adults

2014-01-22
Xpert® MTB/RIF assay for pulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in adults A second systematic review of a diagnostic test for tuberculosis (TB) endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has confirmed the accuracy of the test. The updated ...

Hearing loss linked to accelerated brain tissue loss

2014-01-22
Hearing loss linked to accelerated brain tissue loss Although the brain becomes smaller with age, the shrinkage seems to be fast-tracked in older adults with hearing loss, according to the results of a study by researchers from Johns Hopkins and the National ...

Lawrence Livermore 'space cops' to help control traffic in space

2014-01-22
Lawrence Livermore 'space cops' to help control traffic in space A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists are using mini-satellites that work as "space cops" to help control traffic in space. The scientists used a series of six ...

Putting 'Adam' in his rightful place in evolutionary history

2014-01-22
Putting 'Adam' in his rightful place in evolutionary history Our most common male ancestor walked the earth 209,000 years ago – earlier than scientists commonly thought - according to new research from the University of Sheffield. The pioneering study, ...

European epilepsy consortium identifies new gene for severe childhood epilepsy

2014-01-22
European epilepsy consortium identifies new gene for severe childhood epilepsy A novel combination of technologies made this possible A European consortium of epilepsy researchers has reported the discovery of a new gene involved in ...

Particulate air pollution leads to increased heart attack risk

2014-01-22
Particulate air pollution leads to increased heart attack risk The ESCAPE study * investigates the effects of air pollution on health. In eleven participating population groups in Finland, Sweden, ...

Got milk? Evolutionary connection between milk drinking, lactose digestion, and sunlight

2014-01-22
Got milk? Evolutionary connection between milk drinking, lactose digestion, and sunlight This week in Molecular Biology and Evolution Milk, as the popular slogan goes, does a body good. It contains essential nutrients including ...

Elevated blood pressure at home but not in clinic can indicate increased heart attack risk

2014-01-22
Elevated blood pressure at home but not in clinic can indicate increased heart attack risk In an individual patient data meta-analysis of studies published before July 2013, Jan A Staessen and colleagues (University of Leuven, Belgium) found that patients with masked ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Innovative oncolytic virus and immunotherapy combinations pave the way for advanced cancer treatment

New insights into energy metabolism and immune dynamics could transform head and neck cancer treatment

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Steven Heymsfield named LSU Boyd Professor – LSU’s highest faculty honor

Study prompts new theory of human-machine communication

New method calculates rate of gene expression to understand cell fate

Researchers quantify rate of essential evolutionary process in the ocean

Innovation Crossroads companies join forces, awarded U.S. Air Force contract

Using new blood biomarkers, USC researchers find Alzheimer’s disease trial eligibility differs among various populations

Pioneering advances in in vivo CAR T cell production

Natural medicines target tumor vascular microenvironment to inhibit cancer growth

Coral-inspired pill offers a new window into the hidden world of the gut

nTIDE September2025 Jobs Report: Employment for people with disabilities surpasses prior high

When getting a job makes you go hungry

Good vibrations could revolutionize assisted reproductive technology

More scrutiny of domestic fishing fleets at ports could help deter illegal fishing

Scientists transform plastic waste into efficient CO2 capture materials

Discovery of North America’s role in Asia’s monsoons offers new insights into climate change

MD Anderson and Phoenix SENOLYTIX announce strategic cross-licensing agreement to enhance inducible switch technologies for cell and gene therapies

Researchers discover massive geo-hydrogen source to the west of the Mussau Trench

Even untouched ecosystems are losing insects at alarming rates, new study finds

Adaptive visible-infrared camouflage with wide-range radiation control for extreme ambient temperatures

MD Anderson research highlights for September 5, 2025

Physicists create a new kind of time crystal that humans can actually see

Reminder: Final media invitation for EPSC-DPS2025 and details of media briefings on RAMSES and Juno missions

Understanding orderly and disorderly behavior in 2D nanomaterials could enable bespoke design, tailored by AI

JAMA Network launches JAMA+ Women's Health

Surface plasmon driven atomic migration mediated by molecular monolayer

ERC Starting Grant for five University of Groningen scientists

AI turns printer into a partner in tissue engineering

What climate change means for the Mediterranean Sea

[Press-News.org] Bright star reveals new exoplanet