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Friday, October 11, 2024

Exoplanet ‘Wolf 1069 b’ Might Support Life like Earth 

Wolf 1069 b is at a distance of 31 light-years from Earth

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Russell Chattaraj
Russell Chattaraj
Mechanical engineering graduate, writes about science, technology and sports, teaching physics and mathematics, also played cricket professionally and passionate about bodybuilding.

GERMANY: One of the most exciting goals of extraterrestrial research is to find a habitable planet that is similar to Earth. It seems as though astronomers have found another potential planet where their long-standing quest to discover another habitable planet besides Earth is feasible.

A possibly livable exoplanet has been found at 31 light-years from Earth. The Earth-mass exoplanet, also known as Wolf 1069 b, was found by a group of astronomers under the direction of scientist Diana Kossakowski, the study’s principal author and an astronomer at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA).

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“The researchers are convinced that Wolf 1069 b may provide stable habitable conditions for a considerable chunk of its dayside, despite the fact that that its spin is probably tidally locked to its path around the parent star. Wolf 1069b’s prospects of retaining a large portion of its atmosphere are increased by the lack of any visible star activity or high UV radiation,” based on a release.

Consequently, the planet is one of a very small number of prospective targets for searching for biosignatures and indicators of habitability. The Astronomy & Astrophysics journal has published these findings.

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“We analysed the data of the star Wolf 1069 and detected a definite, low magnitude signal of what seemed to be a planet with a mass similar to Earth. It completes a 15.6-day circuit around the star at a distance equal to 1/15th of the distance between the Earth and the Sun,” said Diana Kossakowski.

Despite being so close to the Sun, the study contends that Wolf 1069b only receives around 65% of the incident radiant power that the Earth does.

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Wolf 1069 emits a lot less energy and has a colder surface temperature than the sun, which gives the star its orange color. These characteristics lead to less heating power.

According to Kossakowski, “as a result, the so-called habitable zone is relocated inward.” Hence, despite being far closer than the Earth is to the Sun, planets orbiting red dwarf stars like Wolf 1069 can support life.

The CARMENES tool was created specifically to make it simpler to find as many possibly habitable worlds as possible, co-author Jonas Kemmer of Heidelberg University said.

Also Read: Two Potential Life Supporting Exoplanets Like Earth Found 

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  • Russell Chattaraj

    Mechanical engineering graduate, writes about science, technology and sports, teaching physics and mathematics, also played cricket professionally and passionate about bodybuilding.

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