New Earth has been discovered near us: the planet may be habitable

The newly discovered rocky planet is slightly larger than Earth, but it is in its star’s habitable zone, the same as the Sun.

To date, astronomers have discovered more than 7,000 planets in our Milky Way galaxy, which vary in size and composition. Some of these worlds are classified as terrestrial planets, meaning they are similar in size to Earth and are rocky.

Such planets are of particular interest to scientists, as they may harbor extraterrestrial life. The authors of a study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics have discovered a new potentially habitable planet relatively close to us, writes Phys.

It is believed that for life as we know it to exist, a rocky planet is needed, and that it is located in the habitable zone of its star.

This is the region of space around the star, which should also preferably be similar to the Sun, where conditions allow liquid water to exist on the planet’s surface. And water, as we know, is a key component for the emergence of life.

At a distance of 19.5 light years from us, which is considered close in cosmic terms, astronomers have discovered a new rocky planet that orbits a star like the Sun.

The planet, called HD 20794 d, is slightly larger than Earth in size, and therefore belongs to the class of super-Earths, although astronomers classify it as a terrestrial planet. At the same time, there are two more planets in this star system, but little is known about them yet.

Planet HD 20794 d is in the habitable zone of its star. For example, for the Sun, this zone begins at a distance of 0.7 astronomical units and ends at a distance of 1.5 astronomical units. Let us remind you that one astronomical unit is approximately 150,000,000 km.

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Thus, in the Solar System, not only the Earth but also Mars is in the habitable zone. Scientists have found that HD 20794 d makes a full revolution around its version of our Sun in 647 days, which is about 40 days longer than Mars does around our star.

Astronomers have found that the super-Earth has an elliptical, not a circular, orbit. Therefore, at its farthest point in its orbit, it is 2 astronomical units from the star, and at its closest point, it is 0.75 astronomical units. The Earth is 1 astronomical unit from the Sun.

Astronomers believe that if the planet had water, it would have changed from a frozen state to a liquid state during its close encounter with its star, which could potentially lead to the emergence of life.

Given the planet’s proximity to us, astronomers will be able to carefully study its atmosphere and chemical composition, which will make it possible to draw more accurate conclusions about the planet’s potential habitability.