Scientists discovery of worlds oldest planet could determine Earths future

The worlds oldest plant has been discovered thanks to the efforts put in by a team of 23 scientists, and this could help in determining the future of the Earth.

Washington, Sept.22 : The world's oldest plant has been discovered thanks to the efforts put in by a team of 23 scientists, and this could help in determining the future of the Earth.

Using a wide range of telescopes at different points around the globe, the team led by Italian astronomer Dr. Roberto Silvotti of the Observatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte in Naples has spent seven years investigating the pulses of the star V391 Pegasi. This international collaboration has resulted in the discovery of a new planet - Peg V392b, which is now being touted as the oldest planet in the universe.

According to Professor Elia Leibowitz of Tel Aviv University's School of Physics and Astronomy, astronomers around the world have discovered over 200 planets outside our solar system, but he says that this new discovery could shed light on the state of our planet's future.

"The Peg V391 star unlike our sun, has already passed the "red giant" stage of its life. It is presently shrinking, on its way to becoming a "white dwarf" and dying. Because a planet associated with Peg V391 has now been found, for the first time astronomers will be able to study the effect a dying sun has on its planet. This will help draw conclusions about what will happen to planet Earth when our sun starts dying in about five billion years," claimed Professor Leibowitz.

The discovery suggests that Earth, which is at a distance from the Sun comparable to the distance of V391 Peg b from its sun, may be able to survive an apocalypse in five billion years time, when our sun runs out of hydrogen fuel and starts swelling into a red giant. The scientists involved in this research believe that V391 Peg b has survived through the red giant phase of its sun, which now burns helium rather than hydrogen.

Critical to the discovery of V391 Peg b was the world association WET - for Whole Earth Telescope - a group of cooperating observatories on almost every continent.

During certain periods of the year, all of the participants view and measure the radiation of a specific star over the course of a few consecutive nights. The star Pegasi V391 was one of the target stars of this network.

"We are continuing our research on this planet and star. If there is another planet out there, we think there is a good chance we will see it," Professor Leibowitz said.

Besides providing the raw data from the Middle East region, Professor Leibowitz also collaborated with Dr. Silvotti on the statistical analysis of the data set collected in Taiwan, Europe and North America.

"This analysis is a significant part of observational investigation. Its function is to demonstrate that an observed feature in nature, claimed to be a discovery of something new in the world, is not merely a random, meaningless phenomenon," Professor Leibowitz said.

ANI