距地球90光年处，发现了一颗巨大的系外行星

The presence of an enormous, Neptune-size exoplanet 90 light-years from Earth has been confirmed after it was first spotted in 2019.

距离地球90光年的一颗巨大的——海王星大小的——系外行星在2019年首次被发现后，近期得到了证实。

The study, published in The Astronomical Journal, confirms the existence of G 9–40b. The researchers used the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) in Texas to confirm the planet’s presence, which was first spotted in 2019 by the Kepler spacecraft.

这项发表在《天文学杂志》上的研究证实了G 9-40b的存在。研究人员使用了德克萨斯州的适居带行星探测器(HPF)来确认这颗行星的存在，开普勒太空船于2019年首次发现了这颗行星。

“G 9–40b is amongst the top twenty closest transiting planets known, which makes this discovery really exciting. Further, due to its large transit depth, G 9–40b is an excellent candidate exoplanet to study its atmospheric composition with future space telescopes,” said the study’s lead author, Guðmundur Stefánsson, in a statement.

“G 9-40b是已知最接近的20颗行星之一，这使得这一发现非常令人兴奋。此外，由于其过境深度大，G9-40b是未来空间望远镜研究其大气成分的最佳候选系外行星，”这项研究的第一作者,Guðmundur Stefansson,在一份声明中说。

It’s believed that G 9–40b is “about twice the size of the Earth, but likely closer in size to Neptune.” It also orbits its star, G 9-40, once every 5 days and 17 hours.

科学家认为G 9-40b“大约是地球的两倍大，但可能更接近海王星”。“它还围绕它的恒星G 9-40运行，每5天17小时运行一次。”

The closest confirmed exoplanet to Earth is Proxima Centauri b, which is 4.2 light-years from Earth. In January, researchers discovered the presence of a possible second exoplanet, a “Super-Earth,” also orbiting Proxima Centauri.

离地球最近的系外行星是比邻星b，距地球4.2光年。今年1月，研究人员发现了可能存在的第二颗系外行星——“超级地球”，它也围绕着比邻星运行。

G 9-40 is an M dwarf star and is approximately 100 light-years from Earth. It has a surface temperature of approximately 5,600 degrees Fahrenheit, according to The Next Web. For comparison purposes, the sun has a surface temperature of 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

g9 -40是一颗M矮星，距地球约100光年。它的表面温度大约是5600华氏度。比较一下，太阳的表面温度是10000华氏度。

More than 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered by NASA in total, approximately 50 of which were believed potentially habitable as of September 2018. They have the right size and the right orbit of their star to support surface water and, at least theoretically, to support life.

截至2018年9月，NASA总共发现了4000多颗系外行星，其中大约50颗被认为可能适合居住。它们的大小和轨道与它们的恒星相同，可以支撑地表水，至少在理论上可以支撑生命。