Indian scientists, in an incredible feat, discovered an exoplanet that is said to orbit around a Sun-like star, some six hundred light years away from Earth.
The planet has been named EPIC 211945201b or K2-236b. With this discovery, India joins hands with other countries that have confirmed a planet outside our solar system. The sub-Saturn exoplanet is almost 27 times bigger than our home planet.
The vast majority of around 2,600 exoplanets has been confirmed by the Kepler space telescope from NASA. India’s latest find was also earlier spotted as a potential candidate by Kepler. However, a team of experts led by Abhijit Chakraborty from Ahmedabad’s Physical Research Laboratory confirmed it as a planet as against any other celestial object.
For over a year, the team studied changing patterns of light emanating from the planet’s host star (K2-236), at the Gurushikhar Observatory in Mount Abu.
As per a report in the The Astronomical Journal the team then said, “We inform here strong evidence for a sub-Saturn around EPIC 211945201 and confirm its planetary nature.”
The planet has been found to be seven times closer to its host star in comparison to us which means a year equals to 19.5 days only. Distance from the star also indicates the planet’s surface temperature is approximately 600 degree Celsius. The discovery says India too has the technology to detect and confirm planets outside its solar system.
KEY FEATURES
- The sub-Saturn exoplanet is almost 27 times bigger than our home planet
- The planet’s surface temperature is approximately 600 degree Celsius
- India’s latest find was also earlier spotted as a potential candidate by Kepler
