Researchers spot Super-Earth using newly discovered technique, all you need to know

Astronomers have discovered a new technique that has found a super earth at a neighbouring star. Also, it may have directly imaged it. Astronomers all across the globe have expressed their interest in finding planets that are similar to Earth. However, finding them has always been a difficult task. Initially, the researchers were relying on facilities like the Giant Magellan Telescope and the European Extremely Large Telescope for the task of exoplanet imaging. 

A unique technique 

Now, a team of researchers have developed a new technique that might help in doing the same. The team claims that they have imaged a possible sub-Neptune/super-Earth-sized planet orbiting one of our nearest neighbours, Alpha Centauri A. Earlier, such discoveries have been made but the researchers have never sensed the light before. The study titled as "Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri”, has been published in the journal Nature Communications. 

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The method now comes down to infrared as this is one of the biggest challenges. The astronomers can search for exoplanets in wavelengths where the background infrared is diminished, but in those same wavelengths, temperate Earth-like planets are faint. To resolve this, one method is to look in the near-infrared (NIR) part of the spectrum. Using this, the thermal glow of the planet is not so washed out by the star. However, the starlight is still blinding. Also, it is a million times brighter than the planet. Therefore, it cannot be completely relied upon. 

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Another solution is the New Earths in the AlphaCen Region (NEAR) instrument. It is mounted on the ESO (European Southern Observatory's) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile and works with the VISIR instrument, also on the VLT. It helps in observing the desirable part of the infrared spectrum and also employs a coronagraph.

Read: Scientists Discover Three ‘super Earth’ Planets located In Habitable Zone

Also Read: 'One In A Million': Super Earth Found 25,000 Light Years Away From Our Planet

(Image Credits: Pixabay)