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NASA announced the discovery of a planet 316 million miles from Earth that rotates every 12.8 days and may be habitable.
Gliss 12 b It is a “super-Earth exoplanet” that is roughly the same size as Earth or slightly smaller, according to A NASA press release. Exoplanets are planets outside our solar system. NASA website He says.
“We have found the closest, transiting, temperate, Earth-sized planet to date,” Masayuki Kuzuhara, an assistant professor at the Center for Astrobiology in Tokyo, said in a statement. “Although we don't yet know if it has an atmosphere, we've been thinking of it as an exoplanet, with the same size and energy it receives from its star as our planetary neighbor in the solar system.”
The planet is 40 light-years away from us and revolves around a so-called cold red dwarf star called Gliese 12, according to NASA. NASA said that Gliese 12 is only about 27% the size of the Sun, and about 60% of the Sun's surface temperature.
Assuming the planet has no atmosphere, NASA astronomers believe its surface temperature is about 107 degrees Fahrenheit.
Red dwarf stars could be key to finding Earth-sized planets
The extremely small sizes and masses of red dwarf stars make them ideal for finding Earth-sized planets, according to NASA.
“A smaller star means greater dimming per transit, and a lower mass means the planet it orbits can produce a greater wobble, known as the 'reversal motion' of the star,” the agency said. “These effects make small planets easier to detect.”
The low luminosity of red dwarf stars also makes it easier to determine whether the planets they orbit are habitable and have liquid water on their surfaces, according to NASA.
NASA researchers 'need more examples like Gliese 12 b'
NASA said that the distance between Gliese 12 and Gliese 12 b is only 7% of the distance between Earth and the Sun. The planet receives 1.6 times more energy from its star than the Earth receives from the Sun.
“Gliese 12 b represents one of the best targets for studying whether Earth-sized planets orbiting cool stars can retain their atmospheres, a crucial step for advancing our understanding of the habitability of planets across our galaxy,” said Shishir Dholakia, a doctoral student at the center. The Department of Astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia said in a statement.
Researchers intend to study Gliese 12 b and other similar planets because they could help “unravel some aspects” of the evolution of our solar system, according to NASA.
“We know of only a few temperate Earth-like planets that are close enough to us that they meet the other criteria needed for this type of study, called transmission spectroscopy, using existing facilities,” said Michael McElwain, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Center. The flight center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement. “To better understand the diversity of atmospheres and evolutionary consequences of these planets, we need more examples like Gliese 12 b.”
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