Many of us have asked ourselves, “Are we the only ones in this universe?” Even though we don’t know the answer for sure yet, scientists are always on the lookout for signs that could point to the existence of life on other planets.
And what better way to start than to look for other planets like Earth that could support life?
Recently, there has been a lot of research into exoplanets, though the reasons for this vary from one organization to the next. Some are just looking for an answer to the question of how aliens live, while others are looking for a second place for people from Earth to live.
Now, exoplanet fans, we might have some good news for you. The Subaru Strategic Program, which was started in 2007 to get great scientific results from Japan’s Subaru Telescope, helped find a super-Earth just 37 light-years from Earth, on the edge of the habitable zone of a red dwarf star.
Home while you’re away?
Schematic of the Ross 508 planet system, which was just found. The green area is the habitable zone (HZ), which is the area where liquid water can exist on the surface of the planet. A blue line shows the path of a planet around the sun. The planet is thought to be closer to the HZ (solid line) for more than half of its orbit and within the HZ (dashed line) for the rest. (Center for Astrobiology)
This “super-Earth,” called Ross 508b, is a rocky world with about four times the mass of Earth.
And on Ross 508b, a year is only 11 Earth days long. This means, of course, that its orbit is not very big, which makes sense since red dwarfs are much smaller than the Sun, which is the center of our solar system.
But because they aren’t as big as the Sun, their gravitational fields aren’t as big either. So, Ross 508b circles it at a distance of only 5 million kilometers. Mercury, on the other hand, is about 60 million kilometers away from the Sun. Given how close this super-Earth is to its red dwarf, it’s hard to see how it could be considered habitable. Well, Ross 508b’s orbit is elliptical, which means it isn’t always as close to the star and kind of dips in and out of the habitable zone.
This kind of planet might be able to keep water on its surface. Whether or not there is water or life there is still something that needs to be researched and talked about.The link between red dwarfs and planets that can support lifeThree-quarters of the stars in the Milky Way galaxy are red dwarfs, which are smaller than the Sun and are very common near the Sun. Because of this, they are important targets in the search for nearby extrasolar planets and life beyond Earth.
This study has made it possible to do more research to see if there is life around low-mass stars.
The results of the research are explained in detail in the Publication of the Astronomical Society of Japan, which you can read here.
Source: theancientzen.com
