“The number of exoplanets on which life could develop has increased by one candidate” – we read on the website of the Institute of Astronomy. Max Planck (MPIA) in Germany.
Out of over 5,000 Of the 100,000 planets beyond our solar system known to date, only a dozen of them have an Earth-like mass and are in the habitable zone. The detection of such objects was undertaken by the team of Dr. Diana Kossakowski, the lead author of the study.
“When we analyzed the data from the star Wolf 1069, we found a clear, low-amplitude signal of what appears to be a planet with a mass similar to Earth,” Kossakowski says. – It orbits the star in 15.6 days in an orbit corresponding to one-fifteenth of the distance between the Earth and the Sun – he clarifies. The results of her team’s research have just been published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Wolf 1069 b orbits the red dwarf Wolf 1069, which astronomers originally studied with the CARMENES spectrograph at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain. Scientists saw a slight, periodic change in the frequency of the star’s light, indicating that it was “wavering” slightly due to the planet’s gravitational pull.
Since Wolf 1069 and Wolf 1069 b have relatively similar masses, the wobble and corresponding shift were large enough for CARMENES to detect. The magnitude of this shift also revealed the mass of the planet.
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The measurements showed that it is close to Earth. In addition, the data suggest that, thanks to the star’s relatively cool surface, the habitable orbital distance is shorter than expected. Wolf 1069 b is within this zone. The planet also receives only about 65 percent of the radiant energy that the Earth receives from the Sun, which allows life to exist.
What distinguishes the new exoplanet from Earth, however, is the rotation around its bright companion – unlike our globe and the Sun, Wolf 1069 and Wolf 1069 b are always facing each other with the same side, which causes eternal day in one hemisphere and eternal night in the other hemisphere.
Earth twin? It can have water, an atmosphere, and a magnetic field
Scientists also believe that the planet may have an atmosphere, and computer simulations show that it keeps temperatures around 13 degrees Celsius on the day-facing side. Without the gas shell on the surface of the planet it would be much colder – the temperature would be -23 degrees, and in such conditions the presence of liquid water is not possible.
Astronomers believe that in addition to the protective atmosphere, Wolf 1069 b may have a magnetic field generated by its liquid core, and thus be able to deflect charged particles of harmful radiation fired from nearby stars, known as “stellar wind”, thus protecting sensitive biomolecules .
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