Mutiul Alim | Friday, 11/02/2022 14:28 WIB
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Illustration of Earth and a white dwarf or dwarf star (Photo: BBC)
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London, Jurnas.com – The discourse of human life beyond planet Earth is now getting closer to reality. The reason is, a group of astronomers found a suitable planet candidate.
If confirmed, it will be the first time a planet with the potential to support life has been found orbiting a star, also known as a white dwarf or dwarf star.
According to reports BBC on Friday (11/2) from the results of a study published in the Royal Astronomical Society, a new Earth candidate was detected in the habitable star zone, a location that is neither too cold nor too hot to sustain life.
Prof Jay Farihi of University College London, who led the research, said the observations were completely new to astronomers.
“This is the first time something has been seen in the habitable zone of a white dwarf. And thus there is the possibility of life on other worlds orbiting it,” he said.
While very large stars become black holes when they die, smaller ones like the Sun turn into white dwarfs, stars that have used up all their nuclear fuel and lost their outer layers.
White dwarfs are usually the size of a planet, and emit a bluish-white light when they first form. The planet, which is 117 light years from Earth, is estimated to be 60 times closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun.
The research team doesn’t have direct evidence for the planet’s existence, but the movement of 65 Moon-sized structures orbiting the white dwarf’s habitable zone suggests the planet is there. The distance of the structures in relation to each other does not change, indicating that they are under the influence of the gravity of the planets around them.
“It really surprised the team. His movement was so precise that you couldn’t make it up,” he said.
The habitable zone is a band around a star where water can exist on a planet, and therefore support life. This is often referred to as the “Goldilocks zone”, because if a planet is too close to the star it will become too hot, and if it is too far it will be too cold, while inside the band conditions are suitable.
These results should be a trigger for astronomers, to actively search for direct evidence of the existence of planets around white dwarfs.
“In astronomy, if we find it, it usually means it’s common,” said Prof Farihi.
TAGS : Future Planet White Dwarf Dwarf Star New Earth
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