天文學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)了新的“溫暖的木星”系外行星

天文學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)了新的“溫暖的木星”系外行星

Astronomers from around the world just confirmed the existence of an entirely new planet. It was first spotted by NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and then confirmed after additional investigation. It’s big, even larger than Jupiter, but unlike our own gas giant, it orbits its host star a much shorter distance.

來(lái)自世界各地的天文學(xué)家剛剛證實(shí)了一顆全新行星的存在。它最初是由NASA的TESS(凌日系外行星勘測(cè)衛(wèi)星)發(fā)現(xiàn)的，并在進(jìn)一步調(diào)查后得到證實(shí)。它很大，甚至比木星還大，但與我們自己的氣體巨星不同，它圍繞著它的主恒星運(yùn)行的距離要短得多。

The new gas giant, now known as TOI-677 b, is thought to be around 23 percent more massive than Jupiter, and it completes an orbit of its star every 11.23 days. That makes it a “warm Jupiter,” rather than a “hot Jupiter,” which is the name given to gas giants that complete an orbit within 10 days.

這顆新的氣體巨星，現(xiàn)在被稱為TOI-677 b，被認(rèn)為比木星大23%左右，每11.23天繞其恒星一周。這使它成為一個(gè)“溫暖的木星”，而不是一個(gè)“熱木星”，這是一個(gè)氣體巨行星的名字，它在10天內(nèi)完成一個(gè)軌道。

The host star this new gas giant orbits, TOI-677, is somewhat similar to our own Sun. It’s estimated to be around 18% more massive, with a surface temperature of around 6,300 Kelvin. Our Sun has a surface temperature of around 5,800 Kelvin.

這顆新的氣態(tài)巨星的主恒星TOI-677的軌道與我們的太陽(yáng)有些相似。據(jù)估計(jì)，它的質(zhì)量要大18%左右，表面溫度在6300開爾文左右。我們的太陽(yáng)表面溫度大約是5800開爾文。

When astronomers discover new exoplanets lurking deep in space it’s tempting to imagine the possibilities for extraterrestrial life. In the case of TOI-677 b, it’s not the kind of place we’d ever expect to find life forms of any kind. Based on what scientists know about the distance between TOI-677 b and its star, it’s likely to be piping hot.

當(dāng)天文學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)潛伏在太空深處的新系外行星時(shí)，人們很容易想象地外生命存在的可能性。以TOI-677 b為例，它不是那種我們期望能找到任何生命形式的地方。根據(jù)科學(xué)家對(duì)TOI-677 b和它的恒星之間距離的了解，它很可能是滾燙的。

The researchers calculated its equilibrium temperature to be approximately 1,252 Kelvin. Equilibrium temperature only takes into account the heat radiating from the star and is based on the distance between the star and any given planet. It doesn’t take into account the makeup of the planet itself or any atmosphere, and since TOI-677 b is a gas giant it’s possible that temperatures within the planet exceed that mark.

研究人員計(jì)算出它的平衡溫度大約是1252開爾文。平衡溫度只考慮從恒星發(fā)出的熱量，它是基于恒星和任何給定行星之間的距離。它沒有考慮到行星本身或任何大氣的組成，由于TOI-677 b是一顆氣態(tài)巨行星，行星內(nèi)部的溫度有可能超過(guò)這個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

TOI-677 b isn’t the kind of place we’d ever want to visit, but based on the data the team gathered, there may be more than one planet orbiting the same star. It would take additional digging to find out if there’s a second planet hanging out around TOI-677, so we’ll have to wait and see.

TOI-677 b不是我們想去的地方，但是根據(jù)團(tuán)隊(duì)收集的數(shù)據(jù)，可能有不止一顆行星圍繞著同一顆恒星。要想知道在TOI-677附近是否還有第二顆行星，還需要進(jìn)一步的挖掘，所以我們只能等著瞧了。