The discovery of a new Earth-like planet could shed further light on what makes a planet habitable (2024)

The discovery of a new Earth-like planet could shed further light on what makes a planet habitable (1)

In an exciting breakthrough for astronomy and the search for extraterrestrial life, a team of international scientists has announced the discovery of Gliese 12 b, a temperate, Earth-sized exoplanet just 40 light-years away — a relatively neighbourly 378 trillion kilometres from Earth.

Researchers from across the world, including key support from researchers at McGill University and Western University worked collaboratively on the hunt for Gliese 12 b within InfraRed Doppler Subaru Strategic Program (IRD-SSP) which searches for habitable zone planets around red dwarfs.

The international team detected the planet’s presence using a combination of advanced telescopes and observational techniques and its discovery presents exciting opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of the worlds beyond our own solar system.

Planet around a red dwarf

Gliese 12 b orbits around a central star named Gliese 12, which is a type of star known as a red dwarf. Red dwarfs are smaller, cooler and more abundant than the G-Type stars like our Sun.

The planets orbiting red dwarf stars are prime candidates in the search for life beyond Earth. Considerable effort has been made to find planets orbiting red dwarfs, as terrestrial worlds are easier to detect around these stars, compared to more massive stars like our Sun.

Related: Webb meets the 7 intriguing exoplanets of TRAPPIST-1

Gliese 12 is one of two red dwarf stars — the other being TRAPPIST-1 — within 100 light-years of Earth that play host to Earth-sized planets with relatively minimal stellar radiation. TRAPPIST-1’s strong activity — such as high energy stellar flares — likely disrupts the habitability of its planets, as recent observations suggest TRAPPIST-1 b and c have almost no atmosphere.

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Highly active stars exhibit more frequent and intense flares and emit life-threatening high-energy radiation than inactive stars. In contrast, Gliese 12 is an unusually inactive red dwarf, meaning its planets face much less harmful conditions.

Barely balmy starlight

What makes Gliese 12 b particularly intriguing is its size and location. It is roughly the same size as Earth, suggesting it may have similar makeup and surface environment. However, more observations and modelling are needed to confirm this.

Gliese 12 b’s location near the inner edge of its star’s habitable zone makes it especially interesting. The habitable zone, often referred to as the “Goldilocks zone,” is the region around a star where conditions are just right for liquid water to exist on a planet’s surface. Since water is essential for life as we know it, finding a planet around this zone is a big step in the search for life.

Gliese 12 b receives just enough starlight to be slightly closer than the inner edge of the habitable zone for red dwarfs. However, the actual presence of liquid water depends on its atmosphere and surface conditions. From another perspective, the amount of starlight it receives is between what Earth and Venus get from the Sun. Further study of Gliese 12 b could shed light on the key differences between a habitable Earth and an inhospitable Venus.

Gliese 12 b – exoplanet sized between Earth and Venus - YouTubeThe discovery of a new Earth-like planet could shed further light on what makes a planet habitable (2)

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A closer look

Another exciting aspect of Gliese 12 b is that its relatively close proximity to Earth allows for more detailed study of its surface environment.

One particularly useful method for studying Gliese 12 b, which isn’t possible for non-transiting planets, is atmospheric transmission spectroscopy. This technique involves analyzing the starlight that passes through a planet’s atmosphere during transit. By studying the changes in the light’s spectra, scientists can infer the composition of the planet’s atmosphere, identifying gases like oxygen, water, methane and carbon dioxide, which could indicate biological processes.

The discovery of Gliese 12 b is a stepping stone towards finding potentially habitable planets and understanding the conditions that make life possible. Current and future telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope and ground-based extremely large telescopes, will play crucial roles in further investigations. These instruments will allow scientists to conduct more detailed studies of Gliese 12 b’s atmosphere and surface conditions.

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The discovery of Gliese 12 b, a nearby possibly habitable exoplanet, is a thrilling development in the quest to find Earth-like planets and, potentially, extraterrestrial life. As we continue to explore the cosmos, each new discovery brings us closer to answering the age-old question: Are we alone in the universe?

For now, Gliese 12 b stands as a beacon of hope and curiosity, inviting us to learn more about the possibilities that lie beyond our own solar system.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

The discovery of a new Earth-like planet could shed further light on what makes a planet habitable (3)

Vigneshwaran Krishnamurthy

Postdoctoral Researcher, Astrophysics, McGill University

Dr. Vigneshwaran Krishnamurthy is a distinguished astronomer and aerospace engineer currently serving as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Trottier Space Institute at McGill University, Montreal. His work primarily focuses on the atmospheric characterization of exoplanets using advanced ground and space-based telescopes, contributing significantly to our understanding of planetary atmospheres and their evolution. Dr. Krishnamurthy's research has earned him prestigious accolades, including the NASA SEEC grant and the President Shankar Dhayal Sharma gold medal, reflecting his exceptional contributions to the field of astrophysics.

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    FAQs

    What makes planet Earth habitable? ›

    A special planet: the habitable Earth

    It is the right distance from the Sun, it is protected from harmful solar radiation by its magnetic field, it is kept warm by an insulating atmosphere, and it has the right chemical ingredients for life, including water and carbon.

    What makes an exoplanet habitable? ›

    A "habitable zone" is the region around a star where planets can receive the perfect amount of heat to maintain liquid water on their surfaces. Because Earth is in the habitable zone of the Sun, this arrangement has informed our understanding of habitability.

    What does a planet need in order to be habitable? ›

    The most important parameter for Earth-like life is the presence of liquid water, which directly depends on pressure and temperature. Temperature is key both because of its influence on liquid water and because it can be directly estimated from orbital and climate models of exoplanetary systems.

    What determines the habitable zone for a planet? ›

    Whether a body is in the circumstellar habitable zone of its host star is dependent on the radius of the planet's orbit (for natural satellites, the host planet's orbit), the mass of the body itself, and the radiative flux of the host star.

    What would make a planet habitable? ›

    In its astrobiology roadmap, NASA has defined the principal habitability criteria as "extended regions of liquid water, conditions favorable for the assembly of complex organic molecules, and energy sources to sustain metabolism". In August 2018, researchers reported that water worlds could support life.

    How can we tell if a planet is habitable? ›

    That means we're looking for planets that are roughly the same size as ours and, like Earth, orbit in their stars' "habitable zones," or at the right distance from their stars —where it's not too hot or too cold — to support liquid water on the planets' surfaces.

    Will humans ever live on an exoplanet? ›

    Not yet. We haven't found a planet that can support life like Earth. So far, our home is unique in the universe. We have found many Earth-sized rocky exoplanets, some of which are in the habitable zones of their stars.

    How long will Earth be habitable for humans? ›

    Roughly 1.3 billion years from now, "humans will not be able to physiologically survive, in nature, on Earth" due to sustained hot and humid conditions. In about 2 billion years, the oceans may evaporate when the sun's luminosity is nearly 20% more than it is now, Kopparapu said.

    Is there another habitable planet like Earth? ›

    A new "super-Earth" has been discovered in a nearby solar system's habitable zone, according to NASA. The planet, designated as TOI-715 b, is "about one and a half times as wide as Earth" and in a system that is only a measly 137 light-years from Earth.

    What planet could humans live on? ›

    There are no known other planets that can support human life other than Earth. Not even Mars or Venus.

    What do planets have to have to be in the habitable zone? ›

    The definition of “habitable zone” is the distance from a star at which liquid water could exist on orbiting planets' surfaces. Habitable zones are also known as Goldilocks' zones, where conditions might be just right – neither too hot nor too cold – for life.

    What is the main requirement for a habitable zone? ›

    Often called the 'Goldilocks Zone', the Habitable Zone is a hypothetical region around a star where the conditions are just right to be considered potentially habitable. In that region, a planet's surface temperature could be in the range needed to harbour liquid water on its surface.

    What was the original requirement for planets in the habitable zone? ›

    1 Introduction. To be considered potentially habitable, the main requirement for a planet is to be at a distance that allows it to have liquid water on its surface, also known as the Habitable Zone (HZ).

    What conditions need to exist for life to survive? ›

    Big Ideas: All living things require a source of energy, a supply of organic molecules and liquid water to survive. As conditions vary from one environment to the next, so too does the life that it supports.

    What are the requirements for life? ›

    Along with water, life as we know it also needs certain chemical elements – the building blocks of life – including carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur. These elements are common in the universe and make up 98% of living matter on Earth by combining to form organic molecules essential to life.

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