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TOI-6038A b is a rare type that lies between Neptune-like planets and gas giants.
The alien planet features a massive rocky core. (Photo Credits: X)
Scientists of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad have discovered a giant planet outside the Solar System. The details of the cosmic finding have been published in the Astronomical Journal, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) revealed in a statement. The exoplanet, branded as TOI-6038A b, is tipped to be way bigger than the Earth but not as massive as Saturn. It has been categorised in sub-Saturn size with a “mass of 78.5 Earth masses and a radius of 6.41 Earth radii in a wide binary system.”
The planet has been orbiting a metal-rich F-type star that is hotter and brighter than the Sun. As per the brightness, this kind of star falls between the extreme A-type and moderate G-type in the general hierarchy. The planet takes 5.83 days to complete a journey on its circular orbit around the star which is nearly 1.5 to 5 times brighter than our Sun.
This is a rare type of exoplanet that doesn’t exist in our solar system. It lies between Neptune-like planets and gas giants. The discovery will provide scientists with an opportunity to learn more about planetary formation and explore their evolution in detail.
“This discovery marks the second exoplanet discovery using the state-of-the-art PARAS-2 spectrograph attached to the 2.5-meter telescope at PRL’s Mount Abu Observatory at Gurushikhar, Mt. Abu,” the ISRO mentioned in the statement.
“It is the fifth exoplanet detection using the combined efforts of the PARAS-1 and PARAS-2 spectrographs. It highlights India’s growing expertise in advanced astronomical instrumentation, with the PARAS-2 spectrograph being the highest-resolution stabilised radial velocity (RV) spectrograph in Asia,” it added.
Following a preliminary analysis of its internal structure, the scientists of PRL observed that TOI-6038A b features a massive rocky core, weighing nearly 3/4th (0.75) of its total mass.
The ISRO further believes that the star’s “brightness makes it an excellent candidate for atmospheric characterisation and spin-orbit alignment studies, which could refine theories on exoplanet migration.”
The F-type star around which the planet orbits is part of a large binary system accompanying a K-type star, TOI-6038B. The distance between the two stars is nearly 3,217 AU.
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