一个岩石组成的地球大小的系外行星
Andrew W Howard1, Roberto Sanchis-Ojeda, Geoffrey W Marcy
1Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA.
Nature
|November 1, 2013
概括
研究人员使用多普勒光谱仪测量了地球大小的系外行星开普勒-78b的质量. 它的密度与地球密度相似,表明其岩石组成,提供了对系外行星多样性的见解.
科学领域:
- 外系行星科学 外系行星科学
- 恒星天体物理学 恒星天体物理学
- 星球动力学 星球动力学
背景情况:
- 超级地球和迷你海王星 (1-4地球半径) 在类似太阳的恒星周围很常见.
- 过境光度测量可以确定系外行星的大小,但不能确定质量或密度.
- 质量测量对于推断系外行星组成至关重要.
研究的目的:
- 测量地球大小的系外行星开普勒-78b的质量和密度.
- 要确定开普勒-78b的组成.
- 为了将质量密度研究扩展到较小的系外行星.
主要方法:
- 利用多普勒光谱测量了开普勒-78b引力引起的辐射速度转移.
- 从运输数据中先前确定半径 (1.20 ± 0.09地球半径) 的综合质量测量.
- 计算了行星的平均密度.
主要成果:
- 开普勒-78b的质量为1.69±0.41地球质量.
- 计算出的平均密度为5.3 ± 1.8 g/cm3.
- 这种密度与地球的密度相当.
结论:
- 开普勒-78b很可能由岩石和铁组成,类似于地球.
- 这项研究证明了描述地球大小的系外行星的可行性.
- 这些发现有助于理解行星组成的多样性.
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