LONDON: According to a statement from the Australian National University, researchers have discovered a massive gas giant exoplanet orbiting a relatively small star known as HATS-6. HATS-6 is located about 500 light-years away and is an M-dwarf.
M-dwarf stars are the one of the most abundant classes of star in the Milky Way; however, due to their dimness and small size, they are not readily observed and analyzed. HATS-6 is comparatively cool and very dim, giving off only one twentieth as much light as our Sun.
Surprisingly, observations obtained by the university’s Siding Spring Observatory showed a periodic diminishment in the star’s brightness, indicating the presence of an orbiting planet passing across the face of the star.
