379 light-years from Earth; Temperature 76 C, equivalent to the Sun.

Agencies – Washington

An amateur astronomer has discovered a planet similar to Jupiter. The mass of this exoplanet is equal to the mass of the Sun. Named TOI-2180b, the planet is 379 light-years from Earth, according to the US space agency NASA. Its average temperature is about 170 F (76 ° C). In such a case, it is hotter than many planets in our solar system, including Earth. According to NASA, the name of this amateur scientist is Tom Jacobs. He is a former U.S. Navy officer associated with NASA’s Citizen Scientist Project. Through this project, ordinary people interested in astronomy and physics are involved in assisting NASA researchers.

Tom Jacob is also associated with such a project. Subsequently, the Automated Planet Finder Telescope at the Lick Observatory in California was used to confirm Jacob’s claim, after which scientists studied the planet’s gravity. This allowed them to estimate the mass of the star and its orbital potential. According to NASA, the planet may contain elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.

The discovery was made by studying information from a telescope

This amateur scientist is said to have scanned data from various telescopes using a computer algorithm for new discoveries. Researchers are looking at changes in the brightness of stars to find any exoplanets. From this we know whether a planet orbits a certain star or not. If the planet passed in front of that star, the star’s light would be interrupted for a while.

Computer algorithm used

However, this computer algorithm is designed to identify different planets orbiting the same star. This amateur astronomer discovered a new planet using the same technology. Tom Jacobs is part of a team called the Visual Survey Group, which monitors telescope information.

Found due to lack of starlight

On February 1, 2020, while examining data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TES) telescope, Jacobs noticed that the brightness from the star TOI-2180b was less than half a percent. Over the next 24 hours, the star’s brightness returned to its previous brightness. He then informed NASA researchers of his findings.