Scientists discover new exoplanet which could support life

However, other factors like the same hemisphere always facing the star, which scorches one side of the planet while the other remains cool, might still render it unlivable, report notes.

From this data, the scientists were able to infer the presence of a planet around 1.3 times more massive than the Earth orbiting at a distance of 7.5 million kilometres.

“Scientists are excited because Proxima b may … be the closest possible home for life outside the Solar System”, the university said in a news release, with lead project author Dr. Guillem Anglada-Escude saying the next step is to search for like on Proxima b. “The recent Pale Red Dot campaign has been about two years in the planning”.

“As for similarities with Earth and, especially, on the suitability for life, they went too far, of course”.

The intensive observations confirmed that the star quivers slightly, the result of a slight perturbation induced by its small planet.

Astronomers have discovered a new exoplanet in the habitable zone of Earth’s nearest neighboring solar system.

Possible alien life might exist in a newly discovered world much like our own.

After scanning the vast reaches of the cosmos for Earth-like planets where life might exist, astronomers have found one right next door. “We can think about solutions – maybe to send interstellar probes or to design specific spacecraft to look for this planet and only this planet”. The scientists believe that the planet has surface temperatures that would allow liquid water to form on its surface. But as to whether it is potentially habitable, “it’s all down to how we define habitability”, Cohen says. The astronomers, who published their findings in Nature, emphasize that thus far much of their understanding of the planet, nicknamed Proxima b, remains speculative. His studies suggest that planets orbiting this type of star need to have a strong magnetic field to protect the atmosphere from being destroyed by the stellar wind. The planet is about the same size as Earth, meaning gravity would be close to what we’re used to. “My first impression is that it wouldn’t be”, Guinan says.

James Cameron’s blockbuster film Avatar depicts a habitable moon, Pandora, orbiting a Jupiter-like planet in the Alpha Centauri star system. Then we’ll learn a lot more about our potentially life-supporting distant neighbor.

This solar system is pretty different from ours, however. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it had fairly deep global oceans”. At conventional speeds, it would take 80 thousand years to get there. To see more, visit NPR.