Newport Central Catholic grad discovers a new Planet

[Lawnboy13]

UC grad, Newport Central Catholic alumnus made a discovery that's out of this world

 

A newly-discovered planet with three suns is making international headlines this month. And while the unique planet is about 320 light-years from Earth, the first-year Ph.D. student who discovered it hails from right here in Greater Cincinnati.

 

Northern Kentucky native Kevin Wagner, a 2011 Newport Central Catholic High School grad and recent University of Cincinnati alumnus, made the discovery using direct imaging at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. He is part of a team of astronomers, led by the University of Arizona, that’s working to directly image planets around other stars in our galaxy.

 

Wagner identified the planet –– currently named HD 131399Ab — as the team was conducting a survey of approximately 100 stars to build a census of giant planets in wide orbits. Likened to Luke Skywalker's home planet, Tatooine, a strange world with two suns in the “Star Wars” saga, the planet is in the constellation of Centaurus. It’s about 16 million years old (making it one of the youngest exoplanets discovered to date), has a temperature of around 580 degrees Celsius and an estimated mass of four Jupiter masses.

 

HD 131399Ab (Wagner agrees it needs a cooler name) is the first planet ever found in a wide orbit inside a triple-star system and it marks the first discovery of an exoplanet made with SPHERE, a powerful adaptive optics and coronagraphic imaging instrument on the Very Large Telescope.

 

Translation: It’s a very big deal.

 

And for Wagner, who just wrapped up his first year in the University of Arizona’s Ph.D. program in astronomy and astrophysics, the discovery is a colossal achievement at an incredibly early stage in his career.

 

“The discovery of this planet would have been a monumental achievement at any point in my career, and I’m extremely lucky that it occurred so early for me,” Wagner, of Park Hills, said via email from Chile. “There are dozens of excellent astronomers, many more talented than myself, who have been pursuing this goal for decades to no avail.”

 

He shared his findings as first author of a paper the group published in the academic journal “Science” on July 7. News outlets around the world picked up the story.

 

The high-profile result will certainly boost name-recognition and future career prospects for Wagner. But in true scientist fashion, he’s more interested in what it means for future research opportunities.

 

One of Wagner's goals is to be part of the first scientific search for alien life. Insiders can learn more about his plans — and how he got to be where he is today.

 

Kevin Wagner: UC grad, Central Catholic alumnus has made a discovery that's truly out of this world - Insider - Story

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

That's pretty damn cool. I really liked this: "HD 131399Ab (Wagner agrees it needs a cooler name)".

[True blue (and gold)]

Love it! I'm going to use this in my astronomy class the first week of school.

[KentuckyJoe]

Thoroughbred Alum always do big things!! For example I am sitting on couch watching the Reds.

[BigVMan23]

that's pretty cool, beats the heck out of sitting around looking for Uranus.

[B-Ball-fan]

This is very cool and tremendously interesting. Congrats to Wagner, that's awesome that a local guy is being credited for such a big deal. :thumb: