Teegarden's Star
Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
---|---|
Constellation | Aries |
Right ascension | 02h 53m 00.89179s[1] |
Declination | +16° 52′ 52.6322″[1] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 15.13[2] |
Characteristics | |
Spectral type | M7.0 V[3] |
Apparent magnitude (B) | ~17.21[4] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | ~15.40[4] |
Apparent magnitude (R) | ~14.1[5] |
Apparent magnitude (I) | ~10.4[5] |
Apparent magnitude (J) | 8.394 ± 0.027[6] |
Apparent magnitude (H) | 7.883 ± 0.040[6] |
Apparent magnitude (K) | 7.585 ± 0.046[6] |
Absolute magnitude (MV) | 17.22[8] |
Details | |
Gyr | |
Other designations | |
Database references | |
SIMBAD | data |
Location of Teegarden's Star in the constellation Aries |
Teegarden's Star /ˈtiːɡɑːrdənz/ (SO J025300.5+165258, 2MASS J02530084+1652532, LSPM J0253+1652) is an M-type red dwarf[3] in the constellation Aries, 12.5 light-years (3.8 parsecs) from the Solar System. Although it is near Earth it is a dim magnitude 15 and can only be seen through large telescopes. This star was found to have a very large proper motion of about 5 arcseconds per year. Only seven stars with such large proper motions are currently known.[4] Teegarden's Star hosts a planetary system with at least three planets.[9]
Discovery
Teegarden's Star was discovered in 2003 using asteroid-tracking data that had been collected years earlier. This data set is a digital archive created from optical images taken over a five-year period by the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program using two 1 m telescopes on Maui, Hawaii. The star is named after the discovery team leader, Bonnard J. Teegarden, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.[13]
Astronomers have long thought it was quite likely that many undiscovered dwarf stars exist within 20 light-years of Earth, because stellar-population surveys show the count of known nearby dwarf stars to be lower than otherwise expected and these stars are dim and easily overlooked. Teegarden's team thought that these dim stars might be found by data mining some of the huge optical sky survey data sets taken by various programs for other purposes in previous years. So they reexamined the NEAT asteroid tracking data set and found this star. The star was then precovered on photographic plates from the Palomar Sky Survey taken in 1951. This discovery is significant as the team did not have direct access to any telescopes and did not include professional astronomers at the time of the discovery.[13]
Properties
Teegarden's Star is classified as a red dwarf as its approximate calculated mass of just over 0.09 times that of the Sun is narrowly above the limit of brown dwarfs.[14] The inherently low temperature of such objects explains why it was not discovered earlier,[15] since it has an apparent magnitude of only 15.1[2] (and an absolute magnitude of 17.22[8]). Like most red and brown dwarfs it emits most of its energy in the infrared spectrum.[16]
The
Planetary system
Observations by the ROPS survey in 2010, published in 2012, showed variation in Teegarden's star's radial velocity, though there was insufficient data to make claims of planet detection at that time.[18]
In June 2019, scientists conducting the CARMENES survey at the
A 2024 study refined the parameters of the two previously known planets, and detected a third planet orbiting farther out, with a period of 26 days and a minimum mass slightly less than Earth's mass. This third planet, Teegarden's Star d, orbits beyond the habitable zone and would have temperatures similar to the icy moons of Jupiter. Two longer-period radial velocity signals were also detected; a 96-day signal corresponds to the star's rotation, while the origin of a 172-day signal is uncertain.[9]
According to one group of researchers, who were specifically studying this star, both habitable-zone planets could have maintained a dense atmosphere and so therefore there would be a high likelihood that at least one may harbour liquid water.[20] However, another group of scientists, looking at Earth-sized planets in general in the habitable zones of stars, specifically in a likely tidally locked scenario, give Teegarden's Star b a 3% chance, and Teegarden's Star c only a 2% chance, of having even retained an atmosphere.[21]
While TESS observations confirm that the planets of Teegarden's Star do not transit their star as seen from Earth,[9] during the period from 2044-2496, Earth would transit the Sun as seen from Teegarden's Star.[11]
Companion (in order from star) |
Mass | Semimajor axis (AU) |
Orbital period (days) |
Eccentricity | Inclination | Radius |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
b | ≥1.16+0.12 −0.11 M🜨 |
0.0259+0.0008 −0.0009 |
4.90634±0.00041 | 0.03+0.04 −0.02 |
— | — |
c | ≥1.05+0.14 −0.13 M🜨 |
0.0455+0.0015 −0.0016 |
11.416±0.003 | 0.04+0.07 −0.03 |
— | — |
d | ≥0.82±0.17 M🜨 | 0.0791+0.0025 −0.0027 |
26.13+0.03 −0.04 |
0.07+0.10 −0.05 |
— | — |
See also
- GJ 1002 – Red dwarf star in the constellation Cetus
- GJ 1061 – Red dwarf star in the constellation Horologium
- List of brown dwarfs
- List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs – Stars and brown dwarfs within 20 light years of the Solar System
- Stars named after people
References
- ^ S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
- ^ S2CID 117144290.
- ^ S2CID 9719725.
- ^ Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
- ^ S2CID 55896673
- ^ Bibcode:2003tmc..book.....C
- S2CID 50864060.
- ^ S2CID 15002841.
- ^ .
- S2CID 246294876.
- ^ S2CID 189999121.
- .
- ^ S2CID 119438487.
- S2CID 102351979. A68.
- ISBN 978-1-4471-3663-7.
- ISBN 978-0-521-89954-3.
- .
- S2CID 8606148.
- EurekAlert!. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- S2CID 189999985.
- S2CID 201070171.
External links
- Barnes, J. R.; Jenkins, J. S.; Jones, H. R. A.; Rojo, P.; Arriagada, P.; Jordán, A.; Minniti, D.; Tuomi, M.; Jeffers, S. V.; Pinfield, D. (April 27, 2012), "ROPS: A New Search for Habitable Earths in the Southern Sky", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 424 (1): 591–604, S2CID 8606148
- SolStation.com
- David's Astronomy Pages – Nearby Stars
- Image Teegarden's Star