這個(gè)地球大小的星球原來是我們的近鄰

這個(gè)地球大小的星球原來是我們的近鄰

It's not every day that astronomers discover a rocky planet hanging out in our own galactic neighborhood. Especially one that's just a little bigger than our own beloved rock.

天文學(xué)家并不是每天都能在銀河系附近發(fā)現(xiàn)一顆巖石行星。尤其是比我們心愛的巖石還要大一點(diǎn)的巖石。

An illustration showing a planet orbiting a small red dwarf star. (Photo: Dotted Yeti/Shutterstock)

Which is why newly named GJ 1252 b is so special.

這就是為什么新命名的GJ 1252 b如此特別。

The planet was spotted by an international team of scientists while they were sifting through data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Their findings were published this month in the academic journal arXiv, but have yet to be peer-reviewed.

這顆行星是由一個(gè)國際科學(xué)家團(tuán)隊(duì)發(fā)現(xiàn)的，當(dāng)時(shí)他們正在篩選來自NASA凌日系外行星勘測(cè)衛(wèi)星(TESS)的數(shù)據(jù)。他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)本月發(fā)表在學(xué)術(shù)期刊arXiv上，但是還沒有經(jīng)過同行評(píng)審。

"Based on the TESS data and additional follow-up data we are able to reject all false positive scenarios, showing it is a real planet," the researchers note in the paper.

研究人員在論文中寫道:“基于TESS數(shù)據(jù)和其他后續(xù)數(shù)據(jù)，我們能夠排除所有的假陽性情況，證明這是一個(gè)真實(shí)的星球。”

Unlike most newfound planets, GJ 1252 b isn't an ice and gas giant. Rather, it's rocky, just a little bigger than Earth — and practically next door to us. Well, 66.5 light-years next door. On the cosmic scale, that's really just a hop.

與大多數(shù)新發(fā)現(xiàn)的行星不同，gj1252 b不是一顆冰和氣體巨星。相反，它是多巖石的，只是比地球稍大一點(diǎn)——實(shí)際上就在我們的隔壁。66.5光年遠(yuǎn)。在宇宙的尺度上，這真的只是一個(gè)跳躍。

But even if we could figure out how to set sail for this planet, we probably wouldn't want to spend any time there. GJ 1252 b isn't the kind of place to raise the kids. In fact, researchers say it isn't a likely candidate for supporting any kind of life. That's because it zips around its sun — a red dwarf star — every 12.4 hours. Although, its star is much smaller than our sun, the rapid orbit suggests the planet's surface is baking hot. What's more, the planet is likely tidally locked, keeping the hot side hot and the cold side, really cold.

但是，即使我們知道如何起航去這個(gè)星球，我們可能也不想在那里呆上一段時(shí)間。GJ 1252 b不是那種養(yǎng)育孩子的地方。事實(shí)上，研究人員說它不太可能支持任何一種生命。這是因?yàn)樗?2.4小時(shí)繞著它的太陽(一顆紅矮星)旋轉(zhuǎn)一次。盡管它的恒星比我們的太陽小得多，但它的快速軌道表明，這顆行星的表面正在變得炙熱。更重要的是，這顆行星可能是潮汐鎖定的，保持熱的一面很熱，冷的一面，又真的很冷。

But for scientists, that doesn't make GJ 1252 b any less a glittering prize.

但對(duì)科學(xué)家來說，這并不意味著GJ 1252 b就不那么光彩奪目了。

GJ 1252 b joins a small but rapidly growing cast of rocky planets we're finding in our cosmic environs. The most recent additions — Pi Mensae c and LHS 3844 b — were described in September 2018 and reside 60 and 49 light-years away, respectively.

GJ1252 b是我們?cè)谟钪姝h(huán)境中發(fā)現(xiàn)的一個(gè)小但增長迅速的巖石行星。最新增加的行星——Pi Mensae c和LHS 3844 b——在2018年9月被發(fā)現(xiàn)，分別位于60光年和49光年之外。

Most of the roughly 4,100 planets that have been identified in our galaxy are of the big, gassy and cold variety. That left a small, rocky planet-sized hole in our understanding of the cosmos.

在我們的星系中已經(jīng)確認(rèn)的大約4100顆行星中，大多數(shù)都是大的、氣體的、冷的種類。這給我們對(duì)宇宙的認(rèn)識(shí)留下了一個(gè)行星大小的巖石小洞。

Could Earth really be such a rare marble?

地球真的是那么稀有的大理石嗎?

More likely, we see fewer rocky planets because they're harder to detect than their giant, gassy cousins. Not only are they smaller, but as Science Alert notes, they generally orbit stars that are too small to light them up for further investigation.

更有可能的是，我們看到的巖態(tài)行星更少，因?yàn)樗鼈儽人鼈兙薮蟮?、充滿氣體的表親更難被探測(cè)到。它們不僅更小，而且正如《科學(xué)警報(bào)》指出的那樣，它們通常圍繞著那些太小而不能照亮它們的恒星運(yùn)行，以便進(jìn)行進(jìn)一步的研究。

On the other hand, GJ 1252 b, with its close and frequent orbit, offers scientists frequent chances to monitor it as it passes in front of its sun.

另一方面，GJ 1252 b由于它的軌道很近，也很頻繁，所以當(dāng)它從太陽前面經(jīng)過時(shí)，科學(xué)家們經(jīng)常有機(jī)會(huì)對(duì)它進(jìn)行監(jiān)測(cè)。

"The host star proximity and brightness and the short orbital period make this star-planet system an attractive target for detailed characterisation," the researchers note.

“主恒星的鄰近性、亮度和較短的軌道周期，使這個(gè)恒星-行星系統(tǒng)成為一個(gè)有吸引力的目標(biāo)，可以對(duì)其進(jìn)行詳細(xì)的描述，”研究人員指出。