Using a huge telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile, astronomers have discovered an Earth-like planet that orbits closest to our solar system star, the European Southern Observatory reported.
Although several planets have been discovered orbiting Sun-like stars, this finding is very significant because the planet detected revolves around the star is not only neighbor, but the closest to ours.
This is a planet similar to Earth and which orbits every 11 days around Proxima Centauri, the smallest of a three-star system size. The red dwarf-type star is located at a distance of 4.24 light-years our planet.
“Although it is the closest to our solar system, this equates to about 25 trillion miles (40 trillion kilometers), said the Astronomical Society of the Caribbean (SAC).
More interesting still is the fact that the planet newly found, and has been called “Proxima b” seems to be located in what is known as the habitable zone, this because it orbits its star at a distance suitable temperatures to sustain liquid water and perhaps even support life.
the SAC explained that because the newly discovered planet belongs to a star that is part of a triple system, from the surface of the new found planet’s three suns they will appreciate in the daytime sky, two of them wearing smaller and distant.
“This discovery will change how to look for life beyond Earth in the coming years,” professor Abel Mendez, a scientist who directs the Laboratory for Planetary Habitability (PHL) in the UPR Arecibo, where the potential for life of the planets is studied. Mendez added that the relative proximity of the planet “Next b” makes it an excellent candidate for further studies looking for any sign of biological activity.
Usually the planets of other stars are too faint and distant to be seen directly, so scientists use different techniques to detect indirectly if one or more planets revolve around a distant star. It has been confirmed that the gravitational influences of planets cause a star to wobble as the planets orbit around it.
The discovery of the new planet was made with spectrometers on a telescope 3.6 meters (11.8 feet) diameter at La Silla in Chile, analyzing the light and using other techniques have the ability to detect if a star is “staggering”. Several studies of the behavior of the star allow better define the size and other details of the planets revolving around this.
The Planet “Proxima b” has a mass 1.3 times that of Earth and orbits its star at a distance of only 4 million miles (7 million kilometers). Although in many ways it is a different planet, the possibility to support life because it orbits its star in the so-called habitable zone is not ruled out.
Visible from Puerto Rico
the SAC said in a statement that in the early summer, the triple star Alpha Centauri is easily visible near the horizon toward the south. However, in these nights is only visible for a few minutes after 7:20 p.m. because of its proximity to the horizon, explained the educational institution.
“At first glance it looks like a single star because of the distance, while through telescopes two star very close to each other are appreciated,” said Eddie Irizarry, vice president of the SAC.
“The irony is that the third triple star system Alpha Centauri, and called Proxima Centauri, -the closest to Sol is only visible through large telescopes. For many would be amazing to look at the night sky hundreds or thousands of stars at a glance and find the closest is not visible without optical aid “Irizarry said, explaining that this is due to the small size of the neighboring star.
For scientists, it is now fascinating to know that the nearest extrasolar planet is, in astronomical terms, “around the corner”.
However, the distances between Earth and stars are extremely large.
“To get an idea of how incredibly far they are the stars, but the Voyager 1 spacecraft-which left our solar system in the year 2012- not directed toward Proxima Centauri, to do so would about 74,000 years to reach, despite traveling at a speed of 38.000 miles per hour, “said the SAC.
“So the aim of studying these planets around other stars is not visit or move, but to understand our position in the vast universe and understand how common is the existence of planets like our own,” he said the educational institution. Still, new technologies to be developed in the coming decades would achieve higher speeds that could bring the possibility to explore, even robotically, these planets in the future.
Until now been discovered a total of 3,516 extrasolar planets, of which more than 200 are in habitable area and appear to be rocky like Earth or solid. However, observations and trends suggest there must be an infinite number of planets in the Universe.
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