Astronomers Have Discovered a Potentially Habitable Earth-Like Planet in Same Direction as Mysterious Radio Signals

A potentially habitable world, termed Ross 128 b, has been discovered just 11 light years away. It is roughly Earth-sized and orbits its parent star once every 9.9 days. Astronomers calculate that its surface temperature could lie somewhere between –60° and 20°, making it temperate and possibly capable of supporting oceans, and life.

The world was found by a team of European and South American astronomers led by Xavier Bonfils (Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble, France) who were using the European Southern Observatory’s world-leading planet-hunting instrument, HARPS. They reported the discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

HARPS identifies planets by the way their gravity forces their parent stars to wobble. It shows that Ross 128 b is more massive than the Earth, with at least 1.35 times our planet’s bulk. So the planet would have a stronger pull of gravity at its surface. Ross 128 b is 20 times closer to its star than Earth is to the sun, hence its year lasts just 9.9 days. Yet, it is not burnt to a crisp because the star is a red dwarf, which is fainter than the Sun.

Ross 128 b is not the closest Earth-like world to us. That distinction goes to Proxima Centauri b, which was discovered in 2016, and is just 4.24 light years away. Although Ross 128 b is remarkably similar in size and orbit to Proxima Centauri b it may have a clear advantage when it comes to potential habitability.

Ross 128 sits in the constellation of Virgo and appears at the center of this picture.

In common with many red dwarf stars, Proxima Centuari is an active star, wracked with gigantic stellar flares. These give out torrents of deadly ultraviolet and X-rays that could all but sterilise the nearby planet. By contrast, Ross 128 is a quiescent red dwarf that is not subject to such fierce outbursts. The chance to analyse these worlds more will come when the European Southern Observatory opens the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in 2024. E-ELT will have a mirror almost 40 metres across, roughly four times larger than any current telescope mirror.

Read Full Article