(ORDO NEWS) — Specialists from the United States have fixed an exoplanet near the Earth. It is located only 35 light years away.
According to astronomers, this exoplanet is the closest to us among all those that were previously discovered. It was named COCONUTS-2b. The expert study was published in the scientific journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Astronomers said they found a planet of enormous size, which has a low temperature and is made of gas. Its mass is about six times that of Jupiter. This planet revolves around a red dwarf located nearby.
It was possible to detect it due to the fact that it is not far from the Earth and at the same time it revolves around its star at a certain distance, which is 6000 times greater than the distance between our planet and the Sun.
Experts noted that this is the second cold exoplanet that has been recorded using images. The temperature of this planet is 160 degrees Celsius. It can be seen due to the fact that COCONUTS-2b emits light. It is released due to the remnants of heat, which did not have time to be exhausted with the time of its formation.
At the same time, the energy of the planet is much weaker than that of the sun, therefore, the use of infrared radiation is required for detection.
It is worth noting that this exoplanet was first noticed 10 years ago, but it was considered that it was just some kind of free-floating space object.
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