With more than 5,000 exoplanets now confirmed, you’d think there would be another Earth in there. Alas, it’s extremely challenging to detect Earth-sized worlds, but the CARMENES program aims to do just that. The team has had some success, too, according to a new study describing an exoplanet just 31 light-years away. It would be a stretch to call Wolf 1069 b “Earth-like,” but it’s closer than most of the other alien worlds discovered so far.
It has been more than 30 years since the discovery of the first exoplanets, and just 1.5% of the known catalog falls in the same size range as Earth, with larger, easily spotted gas giants making up the bulk. Wolf 1069 b orbits a low-mass red dwarf star (also called an M dwarf), which should make it easier to spot low-mass planets. That’s the goal of the CARMENES program, a cooperative effort between the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) and the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain.
Most of the exoplanets we’ve discovered were identified using transit photometry. Instruments like the late, great Kepler space observatory monitor stars, looking for small drops in luminance as planets pass in front of them. This method favors larger planets, though. The CARMENES program uses the radial velocity method, which monitors stars for small doppler shifts caused by the mass of orbiting planets. When the team examined Wolf 1069, they found a single detectable world. It’s between 1 and 1.4 Earth masses, and the radius is almost the same (1.08 Earths). It orbits the star in just 15 Earth days. It’s the sixth closest Earth-like planet currently known, putting it in a range where future observatories could detect potential signs of life.
This simulated surface temperature map of Wolf 1069 b shows the region (within the red circle) where liquid water could exist.
In many ways, Wolf 1069 is the perfect star to probe for planets. It’s smaller and cooler than the sun, which means its habitable zone is closer, and planets orbiting closer to a star are easier to detect. Unlike our next-door neighbor Proxima Centauri, Wolf 1069 doesn’t show signs of intense solar wind or unpredictable flare activity. Thus, a planet in its habitable zone could retain its atmosphere. That could mean Wolf 1069 b has a surface temperature as high as 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius). The calculated temperature based on solar radiation exposure is a more frigid -9 degrees Fahrenheit (-23 degrees Celsius).
On the other hand, Wolf 1069 b is probably tidally locked to the star, a common habitability problem for planets orbiting these stars. The sun-facing side would remain warm, and the other would be frozen. Still, parts of the planet could be compatible with life, making Wolf 1069 b an excellent target for future observations.
Now read:
- NASA Wants Your Help to Discover New Worlds
- Webb Telescope Collects First-Ever Atmospheric Data From an Exoplanet
- A Nearby Super-Earth May Be Suitable for Life
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