Temperate Earth-sized world discovered 11 light-years away
The exoplanet was detected by ESO's Extremely Large Telescope orbiting a quiet star
A potentially life-bearing world boasting a mild surface temperature similar to our own has been discovered just 11 light years from the Solar System. Designated Ross
128 b by the observational team, the low-mass exoplanet has been found to orbit the red dwarf star Ross 128 every 9.9 days. Scientists say it is the “quietest” nearby star to host such a temperate world.
The discovery was made by a team at the La Silla Observatory in Chile using the European Southern Observatory's planet-hunting HARPS instrument. It is the second-closest temperate planet to be detected after Proxima b, and the closest to be discovered orbiting an inactive red dwarf star.
The researchers say this increases the likelihood that the planet is able to sustain life. “This discovery is based on more than a decade of HARPS intensive monitoring, together with state-of-the-art data reduction and analysis techniques,” says the study's Nicola Astudillo-Defru, of the Geneva Observatory at the University of Geneva. What's more, it is getting closer to the Earth: it will be our nearest stellar neighbour 79,000 years from now.
Other facts gathered show Ross
128 b orbits 20-times closer than the Earth orbits the Sun, yet it only receives 1.38-times more irradiation. Its equilibrium temperature is also estimated to be between minus 60 and 20 degrees Celsuis, thanks to the red dwarf having just over half the surface temperature of the Sun.
Further studies will shed light over whether the planet is inside, outside or on the cusp of the habitable zone, potentially pointing to the existence of liquid water on the surface.