This means that the planet would have a ‘year’ lasting approximately 617 days. To find the new planet, the researchers used a technique called gravitational microlensing. Dr Martin explained: “The combined gravity of the planet and its host star caused the light from a more distant background star to be magnified in a particular way. We used telescopes distributed around the world to measure the light-bending effect.”According to Dr Martin, the microlensing effect is rare, with only about one in a million stars in the galaxy being affected at any given time. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play nowThis particular microlensing event was observed by three telescopes in Chile, Australia and South Africa.

Source: Daily Mirror May 13, 2020 08:49 UTC