They found a temperate exoplanet in Pisces

An international investigation has discovered a moderate-sized, temperate planet in the constellation Pisces, located in the potentially habitable zone of its star, about 40 light-years from Earth, according to the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC). The planet was named Gliese 12, and its discovery was made possible by observations from NASA’s Tess satellite and objects such as the Carmenes spectrograph at the Calar Alto Observatory (Almeria) and MuSCAT2 from the Carlos Sánchez Telescope at the Teide Observatory (Tenerife). ). Gliese 12 b is located in the habitable zone of its cool red dwarf star, making it a “promising candidate” for studying its atmosphere with the James Webb Space Telescope, the IAC said in a statement. To date, it is the closest temperate exoplanet of the same size to Earth discovered using the transit method, that is, observing the periodic dimming of its star caused by the passage of the planet. Gliese 12 b has a diameter comparable to that of Venus, slightly smaller than Earth, and its surface temperature is estimated to be about 42 °C.

The distance separating Gliese 12 from the exoplanet is “only” 7% of the distance between Earth and the Sun, so it receives 1.6 times more energy from its star than our planet. “Although we still don’t know whether Gliese 12 b has an atmosphere, we think of it as an exo-Venus whose size and energy received from its star are similar to those of our planetary neighbor in the solar system,” says Masayuji Kuzuhara, an associate project professor at the Tokyo Astrobiology Center, who co-led the research team that published their findings in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. It is “a unique candidate for new atmospheric studies that could help unravel some aspects of the evolution of our solar system,” explains Enric Palle, an IAC researcher.

Although Earth and Venus are very similar planets in size and mass, their histories are very different, remember: Earth is still habitable, but Venus is not due to complete loss of water.

The atmosphere of Gliese 12 b can reveal a lot about how the atmospheric evolution and habitability conditions of terrestrial planets change as they evolve, adds Enric Pallet.

An important factor in maintaining the atmosphere is the turbulent nature of its star, according to the statement, which also noted that red dwarfs tend to be magnetically active, resulting in frequent and powerful bursts of X-ray and ultraviolet radiation.

However, both teams’ analysis concluded that Gliese 12 shows no signs of extreme behavior, making the system an ideal candidate for studying its atmosphere with the James Webb Space Telescope.

The researchers note that thanks to modern technology, the transit method can be used to analyze the chemical composition of exoplanetary atmospheres.

By studying the unique structure of the chemical fingerprints created when starlight passes through a planet’s gaseous envelope, it is possible to identify the molecules present and better understand their composition.

To date, only “a few transiting planets are known that are close enough to Earth to meet the necessary criteria for this type of research; Gliese 12 b is an exceptional candidate that will help us better understand the diversity of atmospheres around temperate planets.” similar to the Earth,” concludes Palle.