Reed College student discovers 8 new possible exoplanets – KGW.com
To stream KGW on your phone, you need the KGW app.Next up in 5Example video title will go here for this videoNext up in 5Example video title will go here for this videoPORTLAND, Ore. — A physics student at Reed College has discovered eight new possible exoplanets in the Milky Way. His name is Mohamed Jassim Munavar Hussain, and he’s an international student from Chennai, India. “It [has] at least been in the back of my mind for such a long time that now that I’m able to dip my foot in it, I realized it’s as good as I thought it would be,” said Hussain.Hussain is talking about his love for outer space and his determination to find new planets. He has discovered eight strong candidates using the Transit Method, which detects dips in light around stars which could indicate a planet passing by.”These are all second planets in systems we already knew to have planets,” he said. “These are planets that orbit stars other than the sun.” Hussain made these discoveries through an internship with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which was partially funded by Reed College. “It’s a very humbling feeling for sure, yeah,” said Hussain. “[That] I have been able to identify something, along with my mentor, that hasn’t been identified before.”The 23-year-old — alongside his mentor who inspired him to pursue this career in the first place, Dr. Michelle Kunimoto — co-authored a paper about their findings. And after seven long months, it was published in The Astronomical Journal at the beginning of this year. “It covers our whole research project in a way that is acceptable in a scientific journal,” said Hussain. “And it’s now out there for people to know. So now, it has gone through the rigorous peer review process, and you can trust it, rather than me just claiming it.”Two of the planet candidates in particular stand out. One of them is more than ten times the size of Earth, according to Hussain. He said this could help astronomers start to think about the formation of other star systems. “Twenty years ago, we thought many of these formed alone. Probably the formation was so violent that other planetary companions could not exist,” said Hussain. “Now, we’ve found out that they could exist, and now when you have a system with two giant companions which are closed in, it leads to a lot of questions on the formation of the mechanisms.” If the planet candidates are confirmed, Hussain said the findings would include the 29th five-planet system found in our galaxy.”It feels good,” said Hussain. “Because I can go back to my application essay and I specifically say, wrote that as a goal, saying that if I came to Reed, I would try and discover at least one planet. And now, I’ve done it eight times. So, it feels good to have completed that task.” Hussain is set to graduate from Reed College later this year and plans to go to graduate school for engineering. He said his ultimate goal is to become an astronaut. You can read more about Hussain’s journey at Reed College here.
