(ORDO NEWS) — For almost five years, astronomers have been convinced that the star 40 Eridani A, mentioned in the Star Trek series, is orbiting an exoplanet that fans have dubbed Vulcan. But now it turns out that this is not the case.
In 1966, the science fiction series Star Trek was released, which became a cult classic for several generations of viewers.
One of the main characters in the original series was Spock, an alien from the planet Vulcan, orbiting a star called 40 Eridani A.
This star exists in reality : it is part of a triple star system in the constellation Eridani , and in 2018, astronomers reported the discovery of an exoplanet in this star, officially called 40 Eridani A b, and unofficially – Vulcan.
But now, five years later, fans of the series are in for a disappointment: there doesn’t seem to be a planet in the 40 Eridani A system.
The new study by scientists from NASA did not set itself the task of confirming or disproving the existence of the Volcano: they studied the list of discovered exoplanets, choosing those worthy of more detailed study.
However, when considering the data from 40 Eridani A b, the researchers ran into some problems.
The fact is that astronomers have deduced the existence of Vulcan using the radial velocity method , in which scientists analyze the different wavelengths of light coming from a star.
However, the signal, which the researchers considered a sign of the presence of a planet in the star system, turned out to be the result of activity on the surface of the star itself.
However, as astronomers emphasize, the “death of Vulcan” (by the way, echoing the events of the media franchise, where in an alternate reality Spock’s homeland was destroyed in 2258) does not mean that in the 40 Eridani system there are no planets suitable for his description at all – we just not yet found.
In addition, there are many more worlds mentioned in Star Trek , and sooner or later the lenses of Earth‘s telescopes will turn to their stars in search of new planets.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.