Observado em direto o sistema estelar mais próximo de nós
No céu que cobre o Observatório de La Silla do ESO, o Cruzeiro do Sul é claramente visível junto ao lado direito da cúpula do telescópio dinamarquês de 1,5 metros e, na parte de baixo da imagem à direita, duas estrelas brilham intensamente no céu escuro. Trata-se de Alfa e Beta Centauri (respectivamente, da direita para a esquerda). A Alfa Centauri é uma estrela múltipla, o sistema estelar mais próximo da Terra.
Um pouco mais próximo da Terra do que as componentes brilhantes da Alfa Centauri, e invisível a olho nu, encontra-se a Proxima Centauri, a terceira estrela que pertence a este sistema estelar múltiplo. É a nossa vizinha mais próxima, situando-se a uma distância de apenas 4,2 anos-luz. Observações anteriores mostraram pistas interessantes, embora subtis, de uma pequena companheira em órbita desta estrela anã vermelha. Uma campanha de observação que se iniciou em janeiro de 2016 irá fazer buscas mais detalhadas dos desvios do movimento orbital da estrela anã, os quais poderão revelar a presença de um planeta do tipo terrestre em sua órbita: a campanha Pálido Ponto Vermelho.
O instrumento HARPS (High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher), que está montado no telescópio de 3,6 metros do ESO em La Silla, será utilizado para procurar o potencial novo planeta. Medições obtidas com o HARPS complementarão observações obtidas no Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) e no Burst Optical Observer and Trasient Exploring System (BOOTES).
Para além de permitir ao público seguir as observações científicas à medida que vão chegando, a campanha de divulgação Pálido Ponto Vermelho revelará também o lado muitas vezes desconhecido da busca de planetas através de artigos de fundo e nas redes sociais. Estão planeados uma quantidade de posts em blogues sobre muitos assuntos — incluindo as técnicas de procura de exoplanetas e o European Extremely Large Telescope do ESO (E-ELT) — que serão escritos por astrónomos, cientistas e engenheiros dos observatórios envolvidos na campanha, como também por escritores de ciência, observadores e outros peritos na matéria.
Links
- Anúncio da campanha Pálido Ponto Vermelho
- Blogue do Pálido Ponto Vermelho
- ESOcast: Pálido Ponto Vermelho
- Conta Twitter do Pálido Ponto Vermelho
- Página do Facebook do Pálido Ponto Vermelho
Y. Beletsky (LCO)/ESO
Sobre a imagem
| Id: | potw1604a |
| Língua: | pt |
| Tipo: | Fotográfico |
| Data de divulgação: | 25 de Janeiro de 2016 às 06:00 |
| Tamanho: | 3500 x 2333 px |
Sobre o objeto
| Tipo: | Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Telescope |
Formatos de imagens
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