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News Release 16-083

Multiple suns and young planets: NSF-supported graduate researchers lead exoplanet discoveries

Early-career astronomers detect new worlds unlike any detected thus far

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Artist's impression of a planet in a triple-star system discovered by a University of Arizona team.

This artist's impression shows a view of the triple-star system HD 131399 from close to the giant planet orbiting in the system. The planet is known as HD 131399Ab and appears at the lower left of the picture. Located about 320 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur), HD 131399Ab is about 16 million years old, making it also one of the youngest exoplanets discovered to date, and one of very few directly imaged planets. With a temperature of around 580 degrees Celsius and an estimated mass of four Jupiter masses, it is also one of the coldest and least massive directly-imaged exoplanets.

Credit: ESO/L. Calçada


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The Caltech team detected K2-33b, a young exoplanet located relatively close to its star.

K2-33b, shown in this illustration, is one of the youngest exoplanets detected to date and makes a complete orbit around its star in about five days. These two characteristics combined provide exciting new directions for planet-formation theories. K2-33b could have formed on a farther out orbit and quickly migrated inward. Alternatively, it could have formed in situ, or in place.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt


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Illustration of the orbit of the planet the Arizona-led team discovered (red) and its stars (blue).

This graphic shows the orbit of the planet in the HD 131399 system (red line) and the orbits of the stars (blue lines). The planet orbits the brightest star in the system, HD 131399A.

Credit: ESO


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