Maciej Konacki
Encyclopedia
Dr. Maciej Konacki (born 1972 in Toruń
, Poland
) is a Polish
astronomer
, notable for his tentative discovery of HD 188753 Ab, a possible planet
discovered in a three star system
. The planet would be similar to Jupiter
.
in astronomy from Nicolaus Copernicus University.
telescope on top of Mauna Kea
mountain in Hawaii
. The discovery was reported in the journal Nature
in July 2005. A previously discovered planet around a triple star system, 16 Cygni Bb
, orbits a wide system, while HD 188753 Ab, if it exists, orbits a system where the stars in the system are very close to each other. Two years later, Eggenberger et al. stated that they had made observations with the necessary precision to detect the planet, but did not detect it.
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) is a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
astronomer
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, notable for his tentative discovery of HD 188753 Ab, a possible planet
Extrasolar planet
An extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is a planet outside the Solar System. A total of such planets have been identified as of . It is now known that a substantial fraction of stars have planets, including perhaps half of all Sun-like stars...
discovered in a three star system
Star system
A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars which orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. A large number of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a star cluster or galaxy, although, broadly speaking, they are also star systems.-Binary star systems:A stellar...
. The planet would be similar to Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
.
Education
Konacki received a Master of Science degree in astronomy from Nicolaus Copernicus University in 1996. Four years later, in 2000, a Ph.D.Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in astronomy from Nicolaus Copernicus University.
Possible discovery of HD 188753 Ab
Dr. Konacki tentatively discovered HD 188753 Ab with the Keck IKeck telescopes
The W. M. Keck Observatory is a two-telescope astronomical observatory at an elevation of near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawai'i. The primary mirrors of each of the two telescopes are in diameter, making them the second largest optical telescopes in the world, slightly behind the Gran Telescopio...
telescope on top of Mauna Kea
Mauna Kea
Mauna Kea is a volcano on the island of Hawaii. Standing above sea level, its peak is the highest point in the state of Hawaii. However, much of the mountain is under water; when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is over tall—significantly taller than Mount Everest...
mountain in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. The discovery was reported in the journal Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
in July 2005. A previously discovered planet around a triple star system, 16 Cygni Bb
16 Cygni Bb
16 Cygni Bb or 16 Cyg Bb is an extrasolar planet approximately 70 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. The planet was discovered orbiting the sun-like star 16 Cygni B, one of two solar-mass components of the triple star system 16 Cygni...
, orbits a wide system, while HD 188753 Ab, if it exists, orbits a system where the stars in the system are very close to each other. Two years later, Eggenberger et al. stated that they had made observations with the necessary precision to detect the planet, but did not detect it.