In the summer, a 17-year-old intern discovered a planet 1300 light years away and almost seven times larger than Earth.
He won’t forget this internship so quickly: A 17-year-old tracked down a previously unknown planet during his time at the US space agency NASA.
Wolf Cukier had done an internship there in the summer, as NASA announced this week. “After three days, I noticed a signal from a system called TOI 1338,” said Cukier. “It turned out to be a planet.”
According to NASA, “TOI 1338 b” has two suns, is 1,300 light years away from us and is almost seven times larger than Earth. It was found using data from the “Tess” space telescope. The planet orbits two closely spaced stars within 93 to 95 days. One is slightly larger than the earthly sun, the other only has a third of its mass. The system lies in the constellation Painter, which cannot be seen from Germany.
Wolf Cukier is not the first student to have made such a discovery: In 2015, the British Keele University announced that a 15-year-old had discovered the previously unknown planet “WASP-142b” during a one-week internship at the university. This guy, Tom Wagg, had also spotted a tiny darkening in the starlight, caused by the passing planet. After his discovery, Wagg wanted to study physics at Keele University.
“Tess”, a telescope with a flair
The telescope “Tess” had already attracted attention this week with the discovery of an approximately Earth-sized planet outside of our solar system. According to Nasa, “TOI 700 d” is at a distance from its star where water could be liquid on its surface. Liquid water – instead of ice or steam – is a prerequisite for life.
“Tess” – the abbreviation stands for Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite – was launched in 2018 to discover planets outside our solar system. “TOI 700 d” was the first roughly Earth-sized exoplanet in a habitable zone that the telescope found. So far, about 20 such celestial bodies are known. Planets orbiting two stars have also been previously observed with other telescopes.
(APA / DPA)
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