Polish Astronomers Discovered the Smallest Rague Planet of the Earth Type
The discovery of the smallest rogue planet of the Earth type is reported by an international team of scientists led by Polish astronomers. The first evidence for the existence of such planets in the Milky Way was provided a few years ago by research conducted by Polish scientists from the OGLE team from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw.
The OGLE project leader is Prof. Andrzej Udalski from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw. The object the team has detected is smaller than Earth and has a mass of about three times bigger than Mars. It is located several thousand light years from the Sun, and most probably is a rogue planet.
To search for such planets the Polish team used the technique of gravitational microlensing. Gravitational microlensing is an effect of general relativity. Einstein predicted that the path of light rays near massive objects could become bent. The gravity acts as a giant lens that focuses and amplifies light from distant stars.
Astronomics in Poland
Poland is a country with a long astronomical tradition: Mikołaj Kopernik (Nicolaus Copernicus, 1473–1543) with his great work on the heliocentric system, or Jan Heweliusz (Johannes Hevelius, 1611– 1687), the author of Selenographia and inventor of several constellation names which are still in use.
Polish post-war astronomy was built virtually from nothing. Currently, about 250 astronomers are employed in seven academic institutes and a few smaller units across Poland. Broad areas of astrophysics are covered and the level of astronomical research in Poland is higher than the world average. The Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences is the largest astronomical institute in Poland. The researchers are involved in a number of large international projects and collaborations.
The Warsaw University Observatory is a part of the Faculty of Physics. It offers astronomical study programmes at undergraduate and graduate levels and has the right to award PhD degrees in astronomy and the degree of doctor habilitatus. Several astronomers led by Grzegorz Pietrzyński are involved in the large international observational programme Araucaria. Its principal aim is to provide an improved calibration of the local extragalactic distance scale.
In Poland, there is also the Astronomical Observatory of the Jagiellonian University, Centre for Astronomy of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Astronomical Observatory of the Adam Mickiewicz University, Astronomical Institute of Wrocław University, Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
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Source https://www.gov.pl/web/nauka/polscy-astronomowie-odkryli-najmniejsza-planete-swobodna