Located in a rather dim region just 16 light-years away from us, two hidden planets with a temperate climate have been overlooked by previous astronomical surveys.
According to Sci-News, surveys based on radial velocity and planetary transits have discovered over 5,000 exoplanets, including some similar to Earth that are located far away.
However, in a world just 16 light-years away—surrounding the faint red dwarf star Gliese 1002 in the constellation Pisces—there exists a rather dark space, making the aforementioned methods less effective.
Graphic depiction of the two newly discovered “Earth-like” planets – (Image: IAC)
In a new survey led by Dr. Alejandro Suárez Mascareño from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC – Spain), two advanced instruments, the ESPRESSO spectrograph and CARMENES, located at the Canary Islands and Calar Alto observatories in Spain, worked to explore the dark region around this red dwarf star.
They focused on the area close to the star, as red dwarfs are much cooler than the Sun, thus bringing the Goldilocks zone closer to the parent star.
The results were quite surprising: they found not just one, but two planets, named Gliese 1002b and Gliese 1002c, which peacefully reside in this habitable zone.
Moreover, these planets are of a type similar to Earth, differing slightly in size, with masses 1.08 and 1.36 times that of Earth, respectively.
By comparing other data, scientists indicated that the climate on these planets is temperate, meaning that it is potentially habitable and capable of supporting life!
There is also a theory that challenges the habitability of these planets, suggesting that red dwarfs often have high radiation levels, which could pose difficulties for living organisms. However, there is also much evidence indicating that certain life forms can withstand radiation or evade it—such as living in underground water pockets or beneath the surface, similar to many extremophiles on Earth.
Astronomers are hopeful about several upcoming instruments being developed, such as the ANDES spectrograph and the LIFE mission, which European scientists are striving to launch.
