New research suggests that Alpha Centauri could host a Super Jupiter in a stable orbit. The research into it has been done by Tinglong Feng, an undergraduate at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. Feng took up the three-body problem which has been a cosmic issue. The problem causes gravitational interactions between the bodies causing instability, and making the movements of the three bodies extremely difficult to predict.&nbsp;

When a planet orbits two stars, it creates a three-body problem, but one that can also be called a “restricted three-body problem". Some potential stable orbits can exist in such a scenario for a planet.

Feng studied Centauri AB, the nearest binary neighbour to our world and tried to understand whether a super Jupiter can exist in the system and the orbit it might have.&nbsp;

“The three-body problem, which seeks stable orbit configurations among gravitating bodies, is a longstanding challenge in celestial mechanics,” Feng writes.&nbsp;

“As the closest triple stellar system to Earth, Alpha Centauri system has attracted diverse studies in astronomy, including exoplanet stability,” Feng writes.&nbsp;

Even though the entire Alpha Centauri system is a triple star system, the third star is far enough from Centauri AB to let them qualify as a binary system, Feng writes.

Feng compared the Centauri AB system with a similar star system named GJ65AB (Gliese 65) only about 8.8 light-years away from Earth. This star system is binary and hosts an exoplanet of the mass of Neptune. Feng says that despite Gliese 65 being a pair of M-dwarfs, the system “shares similar mass ratios and orbital eccentricities".&nbsp;He ran simulations of the Centauri AB system to get a clear picture of whether the system can host an exoplanet.

“The similarities between GJ65AB and Alpha Centauri AB, together with the newly detected stable super Neptune in the GJ65 system, suggest the stability of the corresponding potential super Jupiter in Alpha Centauri AB,” Feng writes.&nbsp;

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<h2>Gliese 65 and the Alpha Centauri AB systems</h2>

He theorises that if Gliese 65 and the Alpha Centauri AB systems are similar, and if GJ65 can host a planet in a stable orbit, can the same be true for Centauri AB?

He then went on to find stable orbits for a planet orbiting Centauri AB. Feng identified Centauri A as the primary star and placed a planet with the mass of 350 Earths at a distance of 23.336 AU, keeping others parameters similar to GJ65. “We figured out the stable zone spanning from 0.1 to ~ 2.2 au, and ranges from 0 to 0.5,” Feng writes.

“From this hypothesis, together with the newly detected Neptune-mass planet in the GJ65 system, which is similar to Alpha Centauri AB, we assume the existence of a potential Jupiter-mass planet with corresponding orbital parameters in Alpha Centauri AB should also be possible,” Feng writes.

So far, no planets have been found around Centauri AB, but Proxima Centauri, which lies near it, has two confirmed exoplanets. Notably, scientists have noticed signs of a planet being in Alpha Centauri A.

New research suggests that Alpha Centauri could host a Super Jupiter in a stable orbit. The research into it has been done by Tinglong Feng, an undergraduate at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China.

New research suggests that Alpha Centauri could host a Super Jupiter in a stable orbit. The research into it has been done by Tinglong Feng, an undergraduate at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. Feng took up the three-body problem which has been a cosmic issue. The problem causes gravitational interactions between the bodies causing instability, and making the movements of the three bodies extremely difficult to predict. When a planet orbits two stars, it creates a three-body problem, but one that can also be called a “restricted three-body problem". Some potential stable orbits can exist in such a scenario for a planet. Feng studied Centauri AB, the nearest binary neighbour to our world and tried to understand whether a super Jupiter can exist in the system and the orbit it might have. “The three-body problem, which seeks stable orbit configurations among gravitating bodies, is a longstanding challenge in celestial mechanics,” Feng writes. “As the closest triple stellar system to Earth, Alpha Centauri system has attracted diverse studies in astronomy, including exoplanet stability,” Feng writes. Even though the entire Alpha Centauri system is a triple star system, the third star is far enough from Centauri AB to let them qualify as a binary system, Feng writes. Feng compared the Centauri AB system with a similar star system named GJ65AB (Gliese 65) only about 8.8 light-years away from Earth. This star system is binary and hosts an exoplanet of the mass of Neptune. Feng says that despite Gliese 65 being a pair of M-dwarfs, the system “shares similar mass ratios and orbital eccentricities". He ran simulations of the Centauri AB system to get a clear picture of whether the system can host an exoplanet. “The similarities between GJ65AB and Alpha Centauri AB, together with the newly detected stable super Neptune in the GJ65 system, suggest the stability of the corresponding potential super Jupiter in Alpha Centauri AB,” Feng writes. Also Read: Asteroid 2024 MT-1 makes extremely close approach to Earth Gliese 65 and the Alpha Centauri AB systems He theorises that if Gliese 65 and the Alpha Centauri AB systems are similar, and if GJ65 can host a planet in a stable orbit, can the same be true for Centauri AB? He then went on to find stable orbits for a planet orbiting Centauri AB. Feng identified Centauri A as the primary star and placed a planet with the mass of 350 Earths at a distance of 23.336 AU, keeping others parameters similar to GJ65. “We figured out the stable zone spanning from 0.1 to ~ 2.2 au, and ranges from 0 to 0.5,” Feng writes. “From this hypothesis, together with the newly detected Neptune-mass planet in the GJ65 system, which is similar to Alpha Centauri AB, we assume the existence of a potential Jupiter-mass planet with corresponding orbital parameters in Alpha Centauri AB should also be possible,” Feng writes. So far, no planets have been found around Centauri AB, but Proxima Centauri, which lies near it, has two confirmed exoplanets. Notably, scientists have noticed signs of a planet being in Alpha Centauri A.

Is the three-star system Alpha Centauri hosting a Super Jupiter?

A new technique has not only helped astronomers find a super-Earth at a neighbouring star but may also have imaged it.&nbsp;

Earlier, it was thought ultra-powerful telescopes currently being developed would be required to image exoplanets.

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However, a team of researchers, have used a new technique which they say have imaged a possible sub-Neptune/super-Earth-sized planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A, reports&nbsp;ScienceAlert.&nbsp;

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Alpha Centauri A is one of the Earth's closest neighbours.&nbsp;

The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications titled: "Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri."

Exoplanets have been discovered earlier, but astronomers have never sensed their light.&nbsp;

This time, though, the researchers have used infrared.&nbsp;

A major challenge with infrared is to discern the light appearing from an exoplanet.&nbsp;

Exoplanets before this use to rely on wavelengths, where the background infrared doesn't exist, but the problem was in finding temperate Earth-like planets.&nbsp;

In this research, an instrument known as NEAR (New Earths in the AlphaCen Region), mounted on the ESO (European Southern Observatory's) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile was used.&nbsp;

The instrument works with the VISIR instrument, also on the VLT.&nbsp;

So, the researchers' results came after 100 hours of cumulative observations with the VLT and NEAR.

The findings, authors say "demonstrate the feasibility of imaging rocky habitable-zone exoplanets with current and upcoming telescopes."

A new technique has not only helped astronomers find a super-Earth at a neighbouring star but may also have imaged it. Earlier, it was thought ultra-powerful telescopes currently being developed would be required to image exoplanets.

A new technique has not only helped astronomers find a super-Earth at a neighbouring star but may also have imaged it. Earlier, it was thought ultra-powerful telescopes currently being developed would be required to image exoplanets. Also read | Space object named 'FarFarOut' is the most distant thing in solar system However, a team of researchers, have used a new technique which they say have imaged a possible sub-Neptune/super-Earth-sized planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A, reports ScienceAlert. Also read | Life on Mars? Study gives fresh evidence to back the claim Alpha Centauri A is one of the Earth's closest neighbours. The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications titled: "Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri." Exoplanets have been discovered earlier, but astronomers have never sensed their light. This time, though, the researchers have used infrared. A major challenge with infrared is to discern the light appearing from an exoplanet. Exoplanets before this use to rely on wavelengths, where the background infrared doesn't exist, but the problem was in finding temperate Earth-like planets. In this research, an instrument known as NEAR (New Earths in the AlphaCen Region), mounted on the ESO (European Southern Observatory's) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile was used. The instrument works with the VISIR instrument, also on the VLT. So, the researchers' results came after 100 hours of cumulative observations with the VLT and NEAR. The findings, authors say "demonstrate the feasibility of imaging rocky habitable-zone exoplanets with current and upcoming telescopes."

Researchers spot possible Super-Earth using new technique

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Is the three-star system Alpha Centauri hosting a Super Jupiter?

Researchers spot possible Super-Earth using new technique