Indian scientists discover exoplanet 1.4 times bigger than Jupiter – All you need to know

A new exoplanet with a mass of 1.5 times that of the Sun and about 1.4 times bigger than Jupiter has been discovered by the exoplanet search and study group at the Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory (PRL). Professor Abhijit Chakraborty led the discovery team comprising students and international collaborators from the US and Europe. The exoplanet located at 725 light-years away is the second discovery by the PRL scientists, the first exoplanet K2-236b at 600 light-years away was discovered in 2018.

Also read: Indian scientists discover sub-Saturn like planet around sun-like star

How did Indian scientists discover an exoplanet bigger than Jupiter?

The exoplanet search and study group at the Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) led used the PRL Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search (PARAS) optical fiber-fed spectrograph on the 1.2 metre Telescope of PRL at its Mt. Abu Observatory to discover the new exoplanet bigger than Jupiter, informed the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

The PRL Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search (PARAS) optical fiber-fed spectrograph is the first of its kind in India that has the capability to measure the mass of an exoplanet. PRL is an autonomous unit of the Department of Space.

Exoplanet bigger than Jupiter – Key Points

The exoplanet search and study group at the Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) have discovered the second exoplanet using the PARAS at 1.2 m Mt. Abu telescope.

The exoplanet is known as TOI 1789 as per the TESS catalogue and HD 82139 as per the Henry Draper catalogue. Therefore, the exoplanet is known as TOI 1789b or HD 82139b as per the IAU nomenclature

The mass of the new exoplanet is found to be 70 per cent which is a mass of 1.5 times that of the Sun. The exoplanet is about 1.4 times bigger than Jupiter.

The newly discovered exoplanet is very unique as it orbits the host star in just 3.2 days. It is extremely close to the host star at a distance of 0.05 AU which is roughly the one-tenth distance between the Sun and Mercury. There are less than 10 such exoplanets discovered ever.

The extreme proximity of the newly discovered exoplanet to its host star also makes it extremely heated with a surface temperature of upto 2,000 K. Therefore, it has an inflated radius because of such a high surface temperature. This phenomenon makes it one of the lowest density planets known to date (density of 0.31 gram per cc).

Exoplanets with such extreme proximity to the host star (with distance less than 0.1 AU) and masses between 0.25 to a few Jupiter mass are known as Hot Jupiters.

Discovery of an exoplanet bigger than Jupiter - Significance

ISRO explains that the detection of such an exoplanet system enhances our understanding of various mechanisms responsible for inflation in hot-Jupiters. It also aids in learning about the formation and evolution of planetary systems around evolving and aging stars.

What is an Exoplanet?

The US space agency NASA defines exoplanets are planets that orbit around other stars. These planets are found outside of the Solar System. All planets in the Solar System orbit around the Sun.