Possible Earth 2.0 Found 16 Light Years Away

Could there be an Earth-like world just 16 light years away ? Image Credit: NASA

Astronomers have discovered what they believe is a potentially Earth-like world in a nearby solar system.

Found in orbit around red dwarf star GJ 832, the new planet is thought to lie within the ‘Golidlocks zone’ where liquid water can exist and may have a mass approximately 15 times that of the Earth.

The habitable zone around any star is the region that is neither too hot or too cold, where water could exist in a liquid state on the planetary surface. As we all know, this is one of the key conditions for life (as we know it) to evolve, hence all the excitement whenever any world is discovered orbiting its star within the habitable zone.

It lies alongside two other worlds of which one of these – Gliese 832b – is a gas giant around 60% the mass of Jupiter and the other – Gliese 832c – is a smaller but hostile world similar to Venus.

The third planet by contrast, which is thought to exist sandwiched between the other two, seems like it could be a much more favorable place to look for signs of extraterrestrial life.

It was found using a technique known as ‘radial velocity method’ (RV) which works by detecting and analyzing periodic shifts in the frequency of the starlight.

While the new planet’s existence has yet to be confirmed, its location just 16 light years away would mean that it is practically on our doorstep compared to most other known extrasolar worlds.

It’s worth remembering that Earth orbits the sun at 1 AU, pretty much in the middle of our star’s habitable zone. Red dwarfs are much smaller and therefore cooler, so have far more compact habitable zones. Therefore, to maintain water in a liquid state on a hypothetical “Earth-like” planet orbiting a red dwarf, its orbit would have to be far closer. Red dwarfs have often been sited as key locations for alien life to thrive as, by their nature, they are long-lived and may allow complex life to evolve. But red dwarfs are known to be extremely active, often erupting with powerful flares that would irradiate any planet that orbits too close, requiring that planet to have a very well developed natural shielding in the form of a strong magnetosphere.

As telescopes become more powerful we may even be able to view it directly before too long.