The search for planets capable of supporting life has taken a potentially important step forward with the revelation of a candidate Earth-like world, HD 137010 b, orbiting a sun-like star 150 light-years away. An international team led by the University of Southern queensland in Australia has identified the planet as a promising “Earth-Mars analog,” fueling hopes in the ongoing quest to find habitable environments beyond our solar system. Confirmation of the planet’s existence awaits just one more observation to verify its orbital transit, a process scientists say coudl solidify its place as the only known rocky world in the habitable zone of a star like our Sun.
Astronomers have identified a potential Earth-like planet orbiting a sun-like star 150 light-years away, sparking excitement in the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system. The discovery underscores the ongoing advancements in exoplanet detection and the growing possibility of finding life elsewhere in the universe.
Researchers from the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) in Australia led an international team that reported the findings on January 27 in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters. The candidate planet, designated HD 137010 b, is approximately 6% larger than Earth and orbits a star remarkably similar to our own Sun.
According to a study conducted by UniSQ scientists in collaboration with researchers at Harvard University and the University of Oxford, HD 137010 b has been described as a potential “Earth-Mars analog” due to its Earth-like size and its orbital distance, which is comparable to that of Mars from our Sun.
Scientists require one additional transit observation to confirm HD 137010 b as a planet, rather than a planet candidate. A transit occurs when a planet passes in front of its star, causing a slight dip in brightness.
If verified, HD 137010 b would be the only known rocky world located within the habitable zone of a sun-like star. The habitable zone, also known as the “Goldilocks zone,” is the region around a star where temperatures could allow liquid water to exist on a planet’s surface – a key ingredient for life as we know it.
Pewarta: Xinhua
Editor: Imam Budilaksono
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