About two years ago, in 2012, researchers found a Saturn-like super massive exoplanet (one that circles a star other than our sun) with a ring framework so amazing it casts a shadow on its own host star. Recently, on account of a late eclipse where planet J1407b lined up before host star J1407, researchers at the University of Rochester investigated the way the light flag changed and got a clearer image of J1407b’s ring framework. The system is approximately 200 times as big as the rings around Saturn, each of its more than 30 rings are uncountable miles wide, and there are holes between the concentric rings that point towards the existence of exomoons like Saturn’s “shepherd” satellites. The planet’s mass is 10 to 40 times bigger than Saturn’s.

Researchers at the University of Rochester compared the planet with a super Saturn. They explained that the eclipse lasted a few weeks but it was possible to spot quick shifts on time scales of tens of minutes caused by the fine framework of the rings.

This is the first proof to back up the long-held hypothesis that moons can develop from a planet’s revolving debris, reports Discovery. The discoveries, to be distributed in the Astrophysical Journal, are the outcome of joint effort between the University of Rochester and the Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands and data from the SuperWASP venture.

The huge rings are larger and heavier, and researchers had the capacity identify crevices in the far reaching disk, suggesting satellites have developed and are currently circling J1407b. The planet itself circles an adolescent star (J1407) that lies about 430 light years from our own planetary system.

Researchers gauge that J1407b has a mass of 40 times that of Jupiter, while the mass of its ring system is probably the same as our Earth’s weight.

Analysts weren’t really able to observe the exoplanet’s ring framework, but had the capacity to identify them, using the same techniques that cosmologists use to spot new worlds – by spotting light disparity in stars as their planets circle and overshadow them.

Discovering planets and evidence of their ring system is challenging. Telescopes are continually gathering information, but even with the assistance of calculations, sorting through everything is an endless undertaking. That is the reason stargazers like those at Rochester and Leiden keep on approaching fellow researchers to assist. Observing the eclipses of faraway stars, analysts say, is the main practical way of watching the early stages of satellite development.

Image Source: Rochester.edu