About GJ 1002 b and c:
- The two new planets are named, GJ 1002 b and GJ 1002 c.
- These planets lie in so-called habitable zones, within which water could be found in liquid form, and which is located in the immediate vicinity of the star due to its low luminosity.
- Planet b has a mass slightly higher than Earth’s, is the closer of the two and its year lasts only 10 days.
- Planet c is about a third more massive than Earth and takes about 20 days to orbit the star.
- The two planets were discovered using the radial velocity (RV) method.
What is the Radial Velocity method?
- This method is based on the detection of variations in the velocity of the central star, due to the changing direction of the gravitational pull from an unseen exoplanet as it orbits the star.
