March 29, 2024
Scientists discover planets that could have life!

Scientists discover planets that could have life!

Planetary projection image
Image: reproduction

Every day, researchers around the world are looking for new forms of extraterrestrial life. This time, scientists from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), located in Spain, have announced the existence of two planets With the possibility of accommodation. They will be in a neighboring planetary system, “only” 16 light years from us.

There is still little information about the planets JG 1002b And the JG 1002 c. All that is known is that the distance of more than 150 trillion kilometers precludes a visit there.

The fact that the studies are still recent makes it impossible to say what kinds of life forms would be protected in these planets.

Despite this, the researchers found that the proximity of the two relative to the main star of their system is similar to the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Sunwhich classifies places as having “habitable area“.

habitable area

Image: reproduction

Among the characteristics of GJ 1002b and GJ 1002c is the information that they inhabit a red dwarf star, GJ 1002. This star class has a mass between 0.1 and 0.7 relative to the Sun, with a temperature between 3000 ° C and 4000 ° C, that is, the lowest.

For example, for a better understanding, our “guiding star”, the Sun, has a temperature of approximately 5,000 degrees Celsius and is in the category of a yellow dwarf.

According to researcher Vera Passagger, of IAC, these factors make the zone Habitable of the planets very close to the star. The term “habitable” means that the area has more “equilibrium” conditions, that is, with temperatures that are neither too high nor too low.

Thus, there is a high probability of the presence of essential elements like water for different lifestyles.

In addition, scientists have discovered the time it takes for each planet to circle the dwarf star. GJ1002b needs 10 days to complete the flight, while its neighbor, GJ1002, spends about 21 days in orbit.

More discoveries

The study, conducted by scientists from the Canary Islands, will be published in the journal Astronomy and astrophysicswith data on the mass similarity between the two newly discovered planets and Earth.

According to researcher Alejandro Mascareño:

Nature seems intent on showing that Earth-like planets are very common. With these two, we now know of seven in planetary systems very close to the sun.”