They discover a potentially habitable planet “just” 40 light years from Earth – Telemundo Miami (51)

Scientists have found a potentially habitable exoplanet that is roughly the size of Earth in a system located 40 light-years away, according to a new study.

The planet is about the size of Venus, making it slightly smaller than Earth, and may have a climate moderate enough to support life, the researchers say.

The planet, called Gliese 12 b, takes 12.8 days to orbit the star, which is 27% the size of the Sun. It is not yet known whether the exoplanet has an atmosphere.

But the scientists behind the study, published Thursday in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, estimate that Gliese 12 b’s surface temperature is about 107 degrees Fahrenheit.

Although hot, the temperature is cooler than most of the thousands of exoplanets discovered to date.

“Gliese 12 b may be at the right temperature for liquid water to accumulate on its surface, and this is important because we tend to think of liquid water as an essential ingredient for life as we know it,” said Shishir Dholakia. one of the study participants. This was stated in a statement by the authors and a graduate student at the Center for Astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland.

Researchers are interested in taking a closer look at the exoplanet, including using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which launched into space in 2021 and is equipped with a sophisticated array of instruments capable of studying exoplanet atmospheres.

This is NASA’s new immersive simulator.

Scientists want to determine whether the planet has an atmosphere similar to Earth’s, or whether its atmosphere is as extreme and hostile as Venus’s. Alternatively, Gliese 12 b may have no atmosphere at all, or an atmosphere unfamiliar and not observed in our solar system, they said.

The findings could help researchers better understand the factors that make exoplanets potentially habitable. The observations may also shed light on how our solar system evolved.

“Because Gliese 12 b’s temperature lies between Earth and Venus, its atmosphere can teach us a lot about the habitability pathways of planets as they evolve,” said study co-author Larissa Palthorpe, a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh and University College. London. he said in a statement.

Gliese 12 b was discovered using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey satellite, which is designed to monitor a huge swath of the sky for a month.

The space telescope, launched into space in 2018, looks for periodic changes in the brightness of tens of thousands of stars.

If a star dims at regular intervals, it could be a sign that a planet is orbiting the star, passing in front of it and temporarily dimming its light.

This article was originally published on NBC News. Click here.