Hello, neighbors?
A nearby star hosts one of the closest multi-planet systems to Earth, researchers report in a new study published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
(Of course, at about 64 trillion miles away, that's nearby in cosmic terms only.)
The system is home to at least two, and perhaps three, super-Earth size exoplanets, according to the study.
Exoplanets are planets that orbit other stars. And a super-Earth is just a planet with more mass than Earth, but less than a larger planet such as Uranus or Neptune, according to Universe Today.
Overall, in the past 25 years, researchers have discovered more than 4,000 exoplanets, including some Earth-like planets that may have the potential to harbor life.
These two or three exoplanets' proximity to our solar system offers a promising opportunity to study exoplanet atmospheres using the James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled for launch in 2021.
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"These planets will provide the best possibilities for more detailed studies, including the search for life outside our solar system," said study lead author Sandra Jeffers, an astrophysicist at the University of Göttingen in Germany.
The star, known as GJ887, is a red dwarf that's roughly half as massive as our sun. And as for solar flares, which can be dangerous to life on nearby planets, this star is relatively inactive.
“If someone had to live around a red dwarf, they would want to choose a quieter star like GJ 887,” writes Lund University astronomer Melvyn Davies in a related Perspective in the journal Science. Davies was not part of the study.
While the two conformed planets may be too hot for liquid water, the as-yet-unconfirmed planet could be within the system's "habitable zone."
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“If further observations confirm the presence of the third planet in the habitable zone, then GJ 887 could become one of the most-studied planetary systems in the Solar neighborhood,” Davies writes.
The star and its planets were discovered by astronomers using the European Southern Observatory telescope, which is in the Chilean desert.
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June 26, 2020 at 02:12AM
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