A new method of measuring the gravity of distant stars has been discovered, and astronomers say that it will allow us to find other worlds far more quickly than the old way.
According to BBC, the method, which was discovered by a team of researchers out of the University of Vienna, allows for the possibility of studying even the faintest, most distant stars.
“Our technique can tell you how big and bright is the star, and if a planet around it is the right size and temperature to have water, oceans, and maybe life,” said Professor Jaymie Matthews.
Here’s how it works: a star’s surface gravity is the intensity of its gravitational pull, which attracts everything on its surface towards its center. Before the discovery of the new method, surface gravity was typically calculated by measuring the star’s brightness.
This old technique, however, only worked on the brightest and closest stars. This rendered it ineffective with respect to more distant solar systems.
Using data from the Kepler space telescope, the University of Vienna research team, led by Thomas Kallinger, can measure the distance to far off stars more effectively.
The research posits that the timescale of turbulence and vibration at a star’s surface, based on variations in its brightness, can tell you its gravity.
This technique is intended to be used in the hunt for other Earth-like planets, which are planets which would be capable of having liquid oceans — perhaps even life.
“The size of an exoplanet is measured relative to the size of its parent star,” said Jaymie Matthews, a co-researcher on the study from the University of British Columbia.
The new method allows astronomers to determine the mass of distant stars, in turn allowing them to determine the mass of any planets orbiting the star.
“If you don’t know the star, you don’t know the planet,” said Matthews.