How did citizen scientists help discover Jupiter TOI-2180 b?

It is located at a distance of 379 light-years from Earth and has an orbital period of 261 days.

Mexico City, Jan. 17 (RT). – Published in the journal by a group of citizen scientists, in collaboration with astronomer Paul Dalba of the University of California, Riverside. Astronomical Journal the Discovery of a gas giant planet what was It is difficult to estimate by regular stargazing techniquesThe educational institution notified this Thursday.

object TOI-2180 B You have Same diameter as Jupiterwith the difference that it is three times more. It has also been determined that it may have a mass of up to 105 times that of Earth in heavy elements such as hydrogen and helium, making it even denser than Jupiter itself.

The scientist explained that its orbital period is 261 days, which is the time it takes to complete a journey around its star, which is considered relatively long compared to other similar gaseous planets, in addition to being at a distance of 379 light years from Earth. .

I had the good fortune to work with an amazing team of citizen scientists, the Optical Survey Group, who discovered TOI-2180 b as a single transit event in Sector 19. #CitizenScience pic.twitter.com/b4oqBzOmrN

– Paul Dalba (@Paul_Dalba) January 13, 2022

How was the planet TOI-2180 B discovered?

The planet has yet to be discovered Tom Jacobsa volunteer with the Visual Research Group, will notice in February 2020 in a graph showing starlight over time, obtained by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), that starlight near TOI-2180 b is dimmer by less than half a percentage point then It returned to its previous brightness level within a 24-hour period.

#UCRiverside An astronomer and a group of scientists have discovered a gas giant planet hidden from view by standard stargazers. Read more ⬇️ # the University #astronomy # Stars https://t.co/O4sIOsrK0T

– University of California Riverside (UCRiverside) January 13, 2022

This can be explained by a planet orbiting “transient” passing in front of the star from our point of view. By measuring the amount of light that is dimmed as the planet passes through, researchers can estimate the planet’s size, as well as other measurements, of its density. However, transits can only be seen if a star and its planet line up with the telescopes you’re looking at.

Measurements of the planet were made using the Automated Planet Finder Telescope at the Lick Observatory in California and the Keck 1 telescope at the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii. This allowed knowing the force of gravity to find out the mass of TOI-2180 b and make estimates of the probabilities of its orbit.

Scientists wanted to capture a second transit of the planet, so Dalba organized an observational campaign with professional astronomers and citizen scientists using telescopes at 14 different locations spread over three continents in August 2021, but the images they obtained weren’t very accurate.

Scientists expect that TESS will see the planet transit its star again next February, when it completes its orbital cycle. Paul Dalba said in a report NASA Newsletter.

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