Universe Today
"For the analysis we used observations from seven different instruments, spanning 20 years, making this one of the largest and most extensive datasets ever used for precise radial velocity studies. The combination of all data led to a total of 771 measurements."
“We used observations from seven different instruments, spanning 20 years of measurements, making this one of the largest and most extensive datasets ever used for precise radial velocity studies. The combination of all data led to a total of 771 measurements — a huge amount of information!”
This discovery was also a resounding achievement because of the nature of the planet discovered. While the instruments that were used have been able to measure velocity changes in a star with incredible accuracy in the past, this is the first time that the Radial Velocity method has been used to detect a super-Earth in such a large orbit around its star.
"We have all worked very hard on this breakthrough,” concluded Anglada-Escudé. “This discovery is the result of a large collaboration organized in the context of the Red Dots project, that included contributions from teams all over the world. Follow-up observations are already underway at different observatories worldwide.”
In addition to validating the sophisticated instruments involved, this discovery is yet another demonstration of how effective data-sharing and collaborations between scientific institutes around the world can be. Last, but not least, this latest discovery in close proximity to our Solar System is sure to encourage similar surveys of nearby stars.
As Cristina Rodríguez-López, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA, CSIC) and co-author of the paper, indicated in a recent Red Dots press release:
“This discovery means a boost to continue on searching for exoplanets around our closest stellar neighbours, in the hope that eventually we will come upon one that has the right conditions to host life”.
