Just 40 light-years away, a group of international researchers has spotted an Earth-sized planet that could be capable of sustaining liquid water, and therefore life as we understand it. This captivating new world, named Gliese 12b, orbits a cool red dwarf star in the Pisces constellation, and has quickly become a symbol of hope for those seeking our cosmic neighbors.
The discovery, led by PhD candidates Shishir Dholakia from the University of Southern Queensland and Larissa Palethorpe from the University of Edinburgh, represents a significant step forward in the quest for extraterrestrial life. Their findings, detailed in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, highlight a “Eureka moment” in space exploration.
Dholakia described the discovery with palpable excitement: “We did the back-of-the envelope calculations. We worked out it’s probably Earth-sized, it’s probably temperate, and that it’s really, really nearby. In the span of a day we were like, ‘Oh, we have to write this up. This is something really cool.’”
At an estimated surface temperature of 42 degrees Celsius, Gliese 12b is tantalizingly similar to Earth and Venus in size and warmth. Its relatively short 12-day orbit around its host star Gliese 12, which is about a quarter the size of our sun with 60% of its surface temperature, offers a unique opportunity to study the planet in depth.
The prospects for life are particularly exciting: “It could be at the right temperature for liquid water to pool on the surface… [that’s] important because we think planets are potentially habitable if they can have liquid water on them,” Dholakia explained.
Gliese 12b’s proximity to Earth means that it’s within the sights of the largest telescopes on and above Earth. “It’s only 40 light years away, and this might not mean that we can actually get to it any time in the near future, but it does mean that we can point the largest space telescopes in the world at it, and understand what its atmosphere might be like,” Dholakia added.
The significance of this discovery extends beyond the search for life. It provides a potential link in understanding why Venus and Earth, despite their similarities, have vastly different atmospheres. “So we think that this planet, which is right in between Earth and Venus in terms of the amount of light that it gets from its sun, could actually bridge the gap… and help us understand why Venus and Earth turned out to be so different,” said Dholakia.
The confirmation of Gliese 12b’s existence was a collaborative effort involving NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which detects minute changes in star brightness caused by orbiting planets. The exoplanet’s detection is also a testament to the power of international collaboration in science, with the researchers from different institutions coming together to confirm its characteristics.
While the discovery of Gliese 12b ignites imagination and wonder about the possibilities of life beyond Earth, a US astronomer has suggested even more intriguing prospects within our own solar system. Michael Brown from the California Institute of Technology has been pursuing the elusive ‘Planet Nine’ and maintains that its existence is almost certain based on the bizarre orbits of objects around Neptune.
Relevant articles:
– Potentially habitable planet size of Earth discovered 40 light years away, The Guardian
– Eureka moment as astronomers find new “potentially habitable” Earth-size planet, Cosmos Magazine