Astronomers Unveil Metal-Rich Giant: New Planet 60 Times Heavier Than Earth

Astronomers have discovered the fourth exoplanet in the Neptunian desert, located 690 light years from the Sun. A global team of scientists, led by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad, has discovered an exoplanet outside our solar system. This exoplanet is five times larger and sixty times heavier than Earth.

The PRL team installed the 2nd PRL Advanced Radial Velocity Abu Sky Search (PARAS-2), a high-end spectroscope, on their 2.5m telescope at Mount Abu in Rajasthan. Scientists used it to identify the sub-Saturn class planet known as TOI-6651b.

The most recent planet discovered is only the fourth exoplanet found in the Neptunian desert. It is located 690 light years from the Sun. The size of sub-Saturn planets is between that of Saturn and Neptune. Scientists refer to a region near stars that lacks Neptune-sized planets as the Neptune desert.

The location of TOI-6651b was on the edge of the Neptunian desert. Sanjay Baliwal, the lead author and fifth-year PhD student collaborating with Abhijit Chakraborty, the PRL scientist and team lead, stated that comprehending the elements that define the desert borders is essential. He emphasized the importance of understanding these factors.

Researched Data

According to the study, released on Tuesday in the Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, TOI-6651b completed an orbit around its host system—a star resembling the Sun—in just five days. In contrast, it takes Earth 365 days to complete one orbit around the Sun, its host. This region receives intense radiation from the parent star because the planet is rotating dangerously close to it. As a result, the nearby planets will be unable to hold onto their gaseous atmosphere for very long as it evaporates. This will leave behind a rocky core, as seen in this instance.

Scientists discover new planet with rich metal core, 60 times heavier than Earth
Located 690 light years away from the Sun, the newest discovered planet is only the fourth exo-planet located in the Neptunian desert to be ever discovered.#newplanet #neptuniandesert #exoplanet pic.twitter.com/CJTOjngIeR

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While the rest of the exoplanet consists of a low-density envelope of hydrogen and helium, but the core is stony. It is composed mostly (almost 87%) of rich metals like iron. Additionally, researchers ruled out TOI-6651b as habitable because they measured its surface temperature at 1,500 degrees Kelvin, or roughly 1,200 degrees Celsius.

Astronomers Opinion

The Astronomers stated that PARAS-2 made the discovery possible. They installed this device on the 2.5-meter telescope at PRL’s observatory in Gurushikhar, Mount Abu.. This fibre-fed spectrograph has the finest resolution of any spectrograph in Asia and performs best in the 380–690 nanometer region. Its purpose is to find worlds that resemble Super-Earth.

Thanks to its high resolution, we were able to find the sub-Saturn exoplanet, which was not achievable with its previous iteration. “In order to find even smaller planets in the future, our team is currently working to improve the equipment further,” he stated.

The other three exoplanets found in the Neptunian desert zone are known as huge gas giants without any metallic components. They are 12–13 times larger than Earth. The study noted that TOI-6651b was formerly a gas giant. It underwent various tidal processes that caused it to change over time to its current state.