Discovery: A planet that heats its sun
Thursday, January 8, 2004 Posted: 10:44 AM EST (1544
GMT)
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Scientists say the hot spot
is caused by the planet's powerful magnetic field.
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ATLANTA (AP) -- Stars usually heat up their family of planets, but in an
amazing reversal, an astronomer has found a planet that is actually heating up
its sun.
Canadian astronomers reported this week that their study of a large planet
orbiting a star 90 light-years away shows that the magnetic field of the planet
is producing hot spots on its parent sun, a reversal of the effect the sun has
on planets such as the Earth.
The planet is one of 119 known extra-solar planets, objects that orbit stars
other than the sun. The star, called HD179949, is very like the sun. The planet
is a gas giant 270 times larger than the Earth, almost as big as Jupiter, the
largest planet in the solar system. It circles very close to its parent star,
completing one orbit every 3.09 days and moving at 350,000 miles per hour
(563,000 kph).
Evgenya Shkolnik of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada,
reported Wednesday at a national meeting of the American Astronomical Society
that she and other astronomers have discovered that as the planet orbits its
star, it causes a hot spot within the outer gaseous layer.
"The hotspot moves across the surface of the star keeping pace with the
planet, but just a little bit ahead," Shkolnik said. She said measurements of
more than 100 orbits showed that the hot spot on the face of the star exactly
matches the motion of the planet.
Shkolnik said the hot spot is caused by the planet's powerful magnetic field
which transfers energy to hot gaseous just above the star's shining photosphere.
The energy creates visible bright patches that can be detected by telescope
instruments analyzing some types of ultraviolet light.
"This is the first time we have detected a magnetic field outside of the
solar system," said Shkolnik.
The Earth has a powerful magnetic field that helps protect the planet from
particles streaming from the sun. The magnetic field is created by the motion of
liquid iron and nickel surrounding the Earth's core.
Shkolnik said the magnetic field of the extrasolar planet suggests that it
too has a core structure that produces an energy force.
Magnetic energy from the extrasolar planet adds about 750 degrees F (400 C)
to the 14,000 degrees F (7,760 C) of the star's outer gaseous layer, said
Shkolnik. The planet itself roasts at about 2,700 degrees F (1,500 C).