Super Earth
Astronomers have travelled outside our solar system in their search for an Earth-like planet, and the discovery of a new planet has increased hopes. The habitable zone of a Super-Red Earth’s Dwarf star has been found by astronomers.
The planet’s continuous movement in and out of its habitable zone is the only issue. It still has a chance of holding water on its surface, and as the James Webb Space Telescope starts its science operations, it might be a crucial object to observe in the future.
The Subaru Strategic Program used the infrared spectrograph (IRD) on the Subaru Telescope to find Ross 508 b. (IRD-SSP). The discovery is the outcome of a renewed emphasis on red dwarf stars, which make up three-quarters of the stars in our galaxy and are abundantly found close to the Solar System.
Living outside the zone of viability
The distance from a star at which liquid water could exist on the surfaces of orbiting planets is referred to as the habitable zone. Also referred to as the Goldilocks zones, these areas may have ideal environmental conditions for life to flourish because they are neither overly hot nor too cold. In its orbit around the star, Ross 508 b passes through this Goldilocks zone.
The planet revolves around a star that is one-fifth the mass of the Sun from Earth, 37 light-years away. The planet is at the inner edge of the habitable zone, is four times as massive as Earth, and is 0.05 times farther away from its star than the Sun on average.
Red dwarfs, according to researchers, are difficult to observe because they are too faint in visible light, despite the fact that they are important targets for studying life in the Universe. Less than 4000 degrees Fahrenheit is the surface temperature of these stars. Proxima Centauri b is the only other star known to have a habitable planet at this time.
According to researchers, the planet probably has an elliptical orbit, in which case its orbital period would be approximately 11 days when it entered the habitable zone. “While the planet is too close to the star for the present telescopes to image it directly. It will be one of the targets for life searches by 30-meter class telescopes in the future “said the group in a release.
“IRD’s development has lasted 14 years in all. The goal of our ongoing development and study is to locate a planet that is identical to Ross 508 b. We are dedicated to learning new things, “IRD-chief SSP’s scientist, Professor Bun’ei Sato, stated.