New globes, new lands – Republic

An artist’s impression of the world similar to Earth circling nearby planetary nebula

Source: CFA

Eight of extrasolar planets located in the ecosphere discovered a team of American astronomers. Two of them are very similar to our – writes Peter Kościelniak.

This action space planets observed by researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics are most similar to Earth of all exoplanets identified so far. They are the right size and are located at the right distance from their parent stars.

– The majority of these planets may have a rocky surface, exactly like our Earth – says Guillermo Torres, who heads a team of 26 scientists. The revelations presented at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Details of the discovery, researchers describe in “The Astrophysical Journal.”

Zone of life

The discovery brings hope that among more than 1,800 observed extrasolar planets are indeed those which may arise and develop life. According to researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics their discovery doubles the number of small globes (with diameters less than two diameters of the Earth), located in the so-called. ecosphere.

Their distance from the parent star is that on the surface may remain liquid water. This feature is by astrobiologists regarded as crucial for the development and maintenance of life. If a planet is close to its star, the water evaporates. If you are too far – the water turned to ice.

Two of the newly discovered planets are, however, special – probably similar to the Earth. Kepler and Kepler-438b-442b orbit so. red dwarfs – the star slightly smaller and cooler than our sun.

The first planet is a little larger than the Earth (by approx. 12 per cent.) and the chance that it is rocky (which means that it can occur on water reservoirs and soils) is 70 percent. Calculations indicate that it receives from its star approx. 40 percent. more energy than the Earth is from the sun. For comparison – Venus receives two times more energy than the Earth.

Kepler-442b is greater than one-third of the Earth, and the probability that it is rocky, approx. 60 percent. Light gets about a third less than our planet.

– Of course, we are not sure that we tested actually planet uninhabitable – David Kipping reserves, one of the co-discovery.

– If we stood on the surface of Kepler-438b, would we be warmer than now – says the BBC’s Network Dr. Doug Caldwell associated with SETI Institute. – And because cooler than the sun orbits a red dwarf, the sky would be there red color.

This is a wonderful Kepler

So far as the “best” of the Earth’s twin planet thought Kepler-186f – a little more and receiving from its star one third of the energy that we get. It was discovered in 2014.

The new observations have achieved thanks to data gathered by the Kepler space telescope sent by NASA. The two most promising planets There are quite far from Earth. Kepler-438b orbits its star approx. 470 years light of us. Kepler-442b is still on – approx. 1100 years light of our planet.

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