Earth-like exoplanet found just 40 light years away – the closest yet

Astronomers have found an Earth-like exoplanet sitting just 40 light years away from our photo voltaic system, making it the closest probably liveable world to us yet.

The planet, which orbits the star Gliese 12 in the constellation Pisces, was first noticed by astronomers utilizing the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, a NASA area telescope.

“It was identified as an ideal candidate for follow-up analysis,” says Larissa Palethorpe at the University of Edinburgh in the UK.

Palethorpe and her colleagues determined to take a more in-depth have a look at the planet, dubbed Gliese 12 b, utilizing the European Space Agency’s Characterising Exoplanets Satellite and by way of ground-based observatories in Australia, Chile and China.

By observing how the brightness of its host star adjustments as the planet travels throughout it, the workforce found that Gliese 12 b has a speedy orbit, whizzing round Gliese 12 in just 12.8 days. It can also be barely smaller than Earth, with a measurement akin to that of Venus. With an estimated floor temperature of 42°C (108°F), the planet could possibly harbour liquid water and probably even life.

“It’s really exciting,” says Palethorpe. “It’s the closest transiting temperate planet to us, and that’s really important for us to do follow-up atmospheric observation using the James Webb Space Telescope.”

To get a greater sense of the planet’s potential habitability, the researchers plan to proceed monitoring Gliese 12 b to determine what kind of environment it has, if it has one in any respect.

“It could be Earth-like, it could have Venus’s runaway atmosphere, or somewhere in between,” says Palethorpe. “We’re not entirely sure yet.”

What they discover may assist us perceive how the rocky planets in our personal photo voltaic system modified over time. “Whatever the results are, it could teach us how Earth became habitable and why Venus did not.”

(*40*)