Planet discovered 31 light-years from Earth that could harbor life

Scientists have discovered an exoplanet, a planet with the potential to harbor life outside the Solar System. called the distant world wolf 1069bprobably a rocky one Orbiting a red dwarf star 31 light-years from Earth.

The discovery came about by accident while an international team of astronomers was calibrating instruments at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain. The study, led by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, is published in the journal Science. Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Wolf 1069 b is about 1.26 times the mass of the Earth, similar to Earth, and is inside the Earth. the habitable zone of your star. Being in such a region makes it a strong candidate. presence of liquid water on the surface.

It completes its orbit every 15.6 Earth days, but does not rotate around itself, which gives it an interesting feature: the planet does not have a day/night cycle like Earth. Therefore, one side always receives daylight, while the other side remains in the dark.

By comparison, Mercury has an orbital period of 88 days, and since it is the closest planet to our Sun, its surface temperature can reach 430 degrees Celsius. However, the same does not happen for the exoplanet in question, as it has relatively desirable temperatures with an average temperature of about 40 ºC.

Additionally, Wolf 1069 b has about 65% of the solar radiation that Earth receives, increasing its chances of habitability. Based on simulations and climate models, it is possible that these conditions are the result of an atmosphere and magnetic field protecting the planet from stellar wind and charged particles from interstellar space.

But, find life on another planet It still takes time to happen. According to the authors, it may take decades before the technology emerges to probe possible distant Earth-like worlds where life as we know it could flourish.