Una esfera ExTrA
En la Imagen de la semana de hoy vemos dos esferas iluminadas por el sol. Aunque estas esferas comparten similitudes en su forma y en el hecho de estar iluminadas por la misma estrella, son muy diferentes. La que está más alejada de la cámara, escondida tras las nubes, es nuestra propia Luna, el único satélite natural de la Tierra. El otro objeto es la cúpula de un telescopio del Observatorio La Silla de ESO, situado en las afueras del desierto de Atacama, en el norte de Chile.
Este es uno de los tres telescopios del proyecto francés ExTrA (Exoplanets in Transits and their Atmospheres, exoplanetas en tránsito y sus atmósferas), que se centra en detectar mundos del tamaño de la Tierra en la Vía Láctea. Se basa en el método de tránsito, donde los planetas bloquean una fracción de la luz de la estrella que orbitan al pasar entre ella y la Tierra, igual que un eclipse parcial. ExTrA se centra en mundos que orbitan enanas rojas, estrellas mucho más pequeñas, frías y tenues que el Sol. Dado que las enanas rojas son pequeñas, los planetas que cruzan delante de ellas bloquean más luz, lo que hace que sean más fáciles de detectar que los planetas que orbitan estrellas normales.
Quién sabe, quizá alguno de estos planetas parezca tan sobrenatural como el paisaje de esta imagen. "Estos lugares siempre me obligan a pensar en nuestro lugar en el Universo, poniendo mi vida 'en contexto', por así decirlo", declara el autor de esta fotografía y astrónomo de ESO, Luca Sbordone. "Siempre me trae paz".
Crédito:L. Sbordone/ESO
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