new Astronomers from Pennsylvania State University in the United States have discovered the giant exoplanet LHS 3154b. This is a schematic view of the parent star LHS 3154 from LHS 3154b. (Pennsylvania State University)[The Epoch Times, December 04, 2023](Epoch Times reporter Chen Juncun reported) American astronomers have discovered a huge exoplanet with a mass 13 times that of the Earth. The size of the planet is too large for its parent star, enough to overturn humanity’s previous understanding of how planets and their star systems form, challenging existing models of planet formation. Pennsylvania State University (Pennsylvania State University, referred to as Pennsylvania State University) stated in a press release issued on November 30 that a recent study published by researchers at the school found that the planet named LHS 3154b orbits a The ultra-cool star LHS 3154 orbits. The star has only one-ninth the mass of the Sun. LHS 3154 is a red dwarf star. Red dwarf stars are known in the universe for their small mass and low temperature. Compared to the mass ratio of the Earth to the Sun, the mass ratio of LHS 3154b to LHS 3154 is more than 100 times greater. This means that the newly discovered planet LHS 3154b is very large. The discovery upends existing theories used to predict how planets form around small stars, and marks the first time astronomers have observed such a massive planet orbiting such a small star. Schematic diagram of the mass ratio of LHS 3154b to LHS 3154 and the mass ratio of the Earth to the Sun. (Pennsylvania State University) Suvrath Mahadevan, one of the report authors of this study and professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University, said that this discovery profoundly points out how little humans know about the universe. “We never thought before that such a heavy planet would exist around a star with such a small mass.” Mahadevan explained that stars are composed of huge clouds of gas and dust. After a star forms, this gas and dust will form a disk of material that continues to surround the newborn star and may eventually evolve into a planet. He said that the disk surrounding LHS 3154 did not contain enough solid material to form a planet, but LHS 3154b did. Therefore, they must reexamine their understanding of how planets and stars form. In this study, the researchers found LHS 3154b using a self-built astronomical spectrometer called the Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF). The instrument is designed to detect planets orbiting the coldest stars outside our solar system that may have liquid water on their surfaces. Liquid water is the key to life. The low temperatures of these ultracool stars mean that planets with liquid water on their surfaces would be much closer to their stars than Earth is to the sun, Mahadevan said. The short distance between these planets and their stars, combined with the low mass of ultracool stars, creates a signature that scientists can use to detect the presence of planets. Although the HPF has learned about and confirmed the existence of several new planets, the discovery of LHS 3154b exceeded all scientists’ expectations. Megan Delamer, another co-author of the study and a graduate student in astronomy at Penn State, said that based on current research with the HPF and other instruments, it is possible to detect planets like LHS 3154b. Very rare so very exciting. Drammer also said: “Our current theories of planet formation cannot explain what we see.” The above research results were published in the journal Science. (Click here to watch the relevant short film) Editor: Ye Ziwei#..., 14h ago