A new tool may refine the search for exoplanets, which may make hunting for life on other worlds a lot easier. Scientists have developed a technological upgrade for one method of finding planets or confirming other planetary detections.
One of the most popular techniques for finding and confirming the existence of exoplanets is the radial velocity method. This technique largely relies on the way a planet is influenced by the gravity of the star it orbits. More specifically, it takes advantage of the fact that a planet's gravity also affects its star. Astronomers actually detect tiny wobbles that the planet causes as its gravity tugs on the star.
However, this technique doesn't always work. Low-mass stars can have false positives, which means that something that looks like a planet may not actually be a planet. That's why researchers decided to refine the radial velocity technique in this latest study.
In this case, the researchers switched from looking in the visible spectrum to looking in the near-infrared. And while radial velocity work in the near-infrared wavelengths has been conducted before, it has trailed behind planet hunting in the visible spectrum. This is largely due to technical challenges.
In this case, the researchers looked at 32 low-mass stars with the help of a technological upgrade at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility.
"Switching from the visible spectrum to the near-infrared, the wobble effect caused by an orbiting planet will remain the same regardless of wavelength," said Jonathan Gagné of Carnegie, one of the researchers involved in the new study. "But looking in the near-infrared will allow us to reject false positives caused by sunspots and other phenomena that will not look the same in near-infrared as they do in the visible light."
The findings could be huge when it comes to confirming exoplanets in the future. More specifically, they may allow astronomers to find more planets in their hunt through the universe.
"Our results indicate that this planet-hunting tool is precise and should be a part of the mix of approaches used by astronomers going forward," said Peter Gao, one of the researchers. "It's amazing to think that two decades ago, we'd only just confirmed exoplanets actually existed and now we're able to refine and improve those methods for further discoveries."
The findings are published in the March 2016 edition of the journal Astrophysical Journal.
