New exoplanet found 1000 light years away

Whatever you were doing at age 15, you were probably less productive than Tom Wagg. While participating in a work experience program at Keele University in the UK, young Mr. Wagg spotted anexoplanet, the existence of which has just been confirmed. The planet has the catalog number WASP-142b because it’s the 142nd planet discovered by the WASP (Wide Angle Search for Planets) project.

WASP-142b orbits a star approximately 1,000 light years away in the constellation Hydra. It’s what is commonly known among astronomers as a hot Jupiter, a gas giant that orbits close to its star. This configuration actually turns out to be common among other solar systems.

WASP-142b is about the same mass as Jupiter, but it has an orbital year of just two Earth days. It is believed a solar system such as this wouldn’t have any small Earth-like planets in the habitable zone, as they’d be ejected from orbit by the gas giant’s huge mass. However, it’s possible the planet itself has rocky moons that could theoretically support life. The artist’s impression above imagines the planet with several rocky moons.

The WASP project looks for planets using the transit method, which is how Tom Wagg spotted his planet. In order to detect a planet by transit, its orbit must cross the star’s disk from our perspective here on Earth. As it passes between Earth and its parent star, there’s a small dip in the observed light. Sensitive telescopes like the ones used in the Wide Angle Search for Planets project can detect that. It’s the same method used by NASA’s now-dysfunctional Kepler probe.

Several factors made WASP-142b easier to detect than other exoplanets. For one, its large size blocks more light and makes the drop in intensity easier to spot. The same is true of how closely it orbits. Finally, its orbital period is so short that the drop in intensity reoccurs frequently. This is important when confirming whether a decrease in light was simply an anomaly or evidence of an exoplanet.

Wagg is now 17, having made the original observations of WASP-142b two years ago. It took two years to confirm that WASP-142b was a planet, even with all the advantages it has. Astronomers from the University of Geneva and the University of Liege studied the data to make sure it had the proper size and mass to be a planet. No extrasolar planets have names yet, but the International Astronomical Union is considering how to go about that. Maybe they’ll name this one after its discoverer.