A 22-year-old astronomy student in
Canada managed to discover new planets in just one go, something that even
professional and veteran scientists are having a heard time doing in search for
just a single planet.
University of British Columbia (UBS)
student Michelle Kunimoto was tasked to analyze data on various light curves
collected using NASA’s Kepler space telescope. She was told to search for new
information that researchers might have overlooked.
Jaymie Matthews, a Kepler executive
member and Kunimoto’s professor in astronomy, said that scientists weren't able
to dig deeper into the information given to Kunimoto because results often lead
to “false alarms” Kunimoto’s four planet candidates, however, will be
confirmed.
He explained that looking for new
planets is like searching for an object in a grass-filled backyard. If it
happens to be a large object, it would be easier to spot since it will stand
out. But if it is as small as a ring, you would have to search the grass
closely to get it.
Matthews compared his student’s
achievement to looking ring-sized objects in the grass, which required her to
go below levels as what NASA researchers does.
The two planet candidates were
comparable to the size of the Earth while the other one was more the size of
Mercury. The fourth planet. Which was given the designation of Kepler Object of
Interest (KOI) 408.05, was more of the size of Neptune.
KOI-408.05 gained the most interest
because of it is located in its host star’s habitable zone, which makes it a
prime candidate for the possibility of water as well as signs of life. The planet
is about 3,200 light-years away from Earth.
source: Tech Times Global News
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