super-Earth tagged posts

An international team has confirmed the discovery of a super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone of a nearby sun-like star. The planet was originally detected two years ago by Oxford University scientist Dr. Michael Cretignier. This result, drawing on more than two decades of observations, opens a window to future studies of Earth-like exoplanets that may have conditions suitable for life.

The new planet, named HD 20794 d, has a mass six times that of Earth and orbits a star similar to our sun, located just 20 light years away. Its orbit places it within the habitable zone of the system, meaning it is at the right distance from its star to sustain liquid water on its surface, a key ingredient for life as we know it. The paper is published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Thirty years after the discovery of the first exoplanet, astronomers have detected more than 7,000 of them in our galaxy. But there are still billions more to be discovered. At the same time, exoplanetologists have begun to take an interest in their characteristics, with the aim of finding life elsewhere in the universe. This is the background to the discovery of super-Earth HD 20794 d by an international team including the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the NCCR PlanetS.

The new planet lies in an eccentric orbit, so that it oscillates in and out of its star’s habitable zone. This discovery is the fruit of 20 years of observations using the best telescopes in the world. The results are published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

‘”Are we alone i...

New observational data from the James Webb Space Telescope and simulation models have confirmed a new type of planet unlike anything found in the Solar System. This provides another piece of the puzzle to understand how planets and planetary systems form.

To date, more than 5000 exoplanets have been confirmed around stars other than the Sun.

Many exoplanets are unlike any of the planets in the Solar System, making it difficult to guess their true natures.

One of the most common types of exoplanets falls in a size range between Earth and Neptune.

Astronomers have debated whether these planets are Earth-like rocky planets with thick hydrogen-rich atmospheres, or Neptune-like icy planets surrounded by water-rich atmospheres, called water worlds.

Previous studies have been ...

How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? A recently discovered exoplanet may be key to solving that Edge of Habitabilitymystery.

“Super-Earth” LP 890-9c (also named SPECULOOS-2c) is providing important insights about conditions at the inner edge of a star’s habitable zone and why Earth and Venus developed so differently, according to new research led by Lisa Kaltenegger, associate professor of astronomy at Cornell University.

Her team found LP 890-9c, which orbits close to the inner edge of its solar system’s habitable zone, would look vastly different depending on whether it still had warm oceans, a ste...