The star is only 20% more massive than the Sun and the size of the planet’s orbit is similar to Saturn’s orbit around the Sun. The AF Leporis system shares similar features to Earth’s Solar System. Rather it was the orbiting planet detected in the SPHERE images. The NMSU team used the Apache Point Observatory’s 3.5-meter telescope to take spectra of the host star and confirm that it was not another star creating the astrometric signal. That told us something was orbiting AF Lep – either a planet or another star.” Hipparco s made a precise measurement of the star’s position and motion in 1991, and its successor Gaia made new measurements in 2016 that showed the star’s velocity had changed in the intervening years. “The discovery was made possible by two European Space Agency space telescopes – Hipparcos and Gaia. “AF Lep was identified as a candidate planet host using astrometry, where a star is observed to move on the sky due to an orbiting planet’s gravity ,” Nielsen said. At the same time, two other teams also identified AF Leporis as a candidate planet host and independently confirmed the planet via direct imaging observations. The discovery has been accepted for publication in the “Astronomy & Astrophysics” journal the paper is available online through ArXiV. “One of the great things about direct imaging is you actually see light from the planet next to the star,” Nielsen explained, referring to the image taken with SPHERE. By blocking light from the star, the planet was revealed. The team targeted stars that were candidate exoplanet hosts identified by astrometry, and confirmed AF Leporis b was a planet by directly imaging it with the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument at the VLT. Nielsen and Peck worked with Robert De Rosa, a staff astronomer at the European Southern Observatory, which operates the Very Large Telescope in Chile. ![]() “Annie and I look for planets around other stars using the direct imaging technique, where we take an image of the star and aim to detect light from an orbiting planet,” Nielsen said. It is among the lightest exoplanets detected so far with the combined use of astrometric measurements and direct imaging. Peck are among the first researchers in the world to spot a newly discovered planet orbiting a star called AF Leporis. Due date: September 1, 2023.New Mexico State University Astronomy Professor Eric Nielsen and Ph.D. For students writing symposium papers, please follow these guidelines.We have a listing of papers published by students. Our members are active in many fields of astrophysical research. Research activities of KNAC students and faculty Information from previous symposia: 2023 Wesleyan, 2022 Wellesley, 2021 Haverford, 2020 Williams, 2019 Vassar, 2018 Middlebury, 2017 Colgate, 2016 Wesleyan, 2015 Williams, 2014 Swarthmore, 2013 Vassar, 2012 Middlebury, 2011 Wellesley, 2010 Colgate, 2009 Swarthmore, 2008 Wesleyan, 2007 Williams, 2006 Vassar, 2005 Middlebury, 2004 Colgate. The 2024 symposium will be hosted by Colgate University (note: dates to be determined). The application is now closed.Įach fall students and faculty from the summer research undergraduate research experience and the member schools gather together for a student research symposium. Applications for summer 2023 were due by February 10. ![]() Information about the types of research projects carried out in the consortium can be found on the webpages of individual faculty and there's also information available about the application process. ![]() Keck Foundation beginning in 1990 and have been funded in the past by the National Science Foundation.Įach summer KNAC faculty host undergraduate research interns from within the consortium. We sponsor a student exchange program each summer and a student research symposium each fall. Our goals are to promote astronomy research among our students and to foster faculty and student interaction among the eight campuses. The Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium (KNAC) comprises astronomy faculty and students at eight small liberal arts colleges and universities in the northeast.
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