NASA releases new computer model image of such a star system

Oct 24, 2011 22:31 GMT  ·  By

Officials from the American space agency have just released a new artist's concept of how a three-exoplanet star system would look like if centered on a red dwarf star. These stellar objects have a smaller mass than the Sun, and are also smaller in size.

Astronomers have been focusing exoplanet search efforts on these celestial bodies because they are able to spot the extrasolar planets easier than if they were orbiting larger stars. In addition, these objects can also be imaged directly with more ease.

One of the spacecraft used to look for exoplanets around young, red dwarfs is the NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer, which analyzes the objects and their prospective companions in infrared wavelengths. When they are young, stars produce very large amounts of ultraviolet radiations.