All posts tagged: Earthlike

AI finds 44 star systems that could hide Earth-like planets

AI finds 44 star systems that could hide Earth-like planets

Published by Jenni Sidey

A machine-learning model identified 44 known planetary systems that could contain undiscovered Earth-like planets. Tests reached up to 99% precision on simulated systems, but telescope observations have not confirmed the predicted planets. The approach uses the arrangement of known planets to help astronomers select promising targets for further searches. A planet already found around a distant star may offer clues about another world still hidden nearby. Its mass and orbit can carry traces of how the entire planetary system formed, including planets too small or faint for telescopes to detect. The model reached precision scores of up to 99% when tested on simulated planetary systems. That result measures performance within a computer-generated population. The predicted worlds around actual stars remain unconfirmed, and the method’s value will depend on follow-up observations. The bee swarm plot ranks seven features by importance, with SHAP values showing how strongly each feature influences individual predictions. (CREDIT: Jeanne Davoult et al, Astronomy & Astrophysics) Reading the arrangement of planets Planets form together within disks of gas and solid material surrounding young …

The Search for Another Earth-Like Planet Just Took a Big Step Forward

The Search for Another Earth-Like Planet Just Took a Big Step Forward

Published by skeptic

Astronomers have confirmed for the first time the existence of a rocky planet with an atmosphere that also happens to be in what’s known as the habitable zone. Located 48 light-years away, the exoplanet—that is, a planet outside our solar system—may be the most similar thing to Earth that researchers have come across. If not a twin then certainly a family member. Researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics were able to detect signatures of helium around LHS 1140 b, an exoplanet circling a cool red dwarf. The previously identified body has a rocky composition and is far enough from its host star to be able to retain liquid water on its surface. The team documented their findings in the journal Science this week. The presence of an atmosphere is essential for a planet to support life as we know it. On Earth, for example, the atmosphere allows water to remain in a liquid state, rather than boiling or sublimating easily. It also helps maintain a stable climate by regulating the planet’s temperature and reduces …

Nearby exoplanet just got more Earth-like and promising for life

Nearby exoplanet just got more Earth-like and promising for life

Published by Jenni Sidey

GJ 3378b has moved closer to the kind of world astronomers most want to find: small, rocky, temperate, and near enough for future telescopes to inspect in far greater detail. The planet circles a red dwarf star about 25 light-years from Earth, in the northern constellation Camelopardalis. It sits in the star’s habitable zone, the range where temperatures could allow liquid water. And after a fresh look with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory, researchers say the planet appears significantly lighter than earlier estimates suggested. That matters because mass helps determine what kind of world a planet is. A heavier planet is more likely to hold a thick envelope of gas. A lighter one, especially in this range, has better odds of being rocky. “Our mantra is ‘follow the water,’” said Paul Robertson, an astronomer at the University of California, Irvine, and lead author of the study published in The Astrophysical Journal. “It’s the one thing every known living thing on Earth needs, so that’s the first thing we look for when trying to find …

Enormous, Earth-like magma systems once existed inside Mars

Enormous, Earth-like magma systems once existed inside Mars

Published by Jenni Sidey

For years, Mars has sat in an awkward middle ground, too geologically quiet to look like Earth. At the same time, it is too complex to be written off as a dead world of simple basalt. Now a new look beneath the planet’s surface suggests that picture was far too neat. A study in Nature Astronomy argues that Mars once hosted vast, long-lived magmatic systems deep in its crust. These systems look strikingly similar to ones on Earth that help build complex continental material. That matters because Mars does not have plate tectonics, the churning surface process long treated as a near-requirement for this kind of geological sophistication. Instead, the new work suggests the Red Planet may have been able to recycle and rework molten rock through much of its crust anyway. The case rests on a buried boundary about 24 kilometers below the Martian surface, detected through seismic data gathered by NASA’s InSight mission. Scientists had already identified the boundary. However, what it actually marked remained unsettled. Was it just another layer in a …

Astronomers observe six red dwarf stars ‘eating’ Earth-like planets

Astronomers observe six red dwarf stars ‘eating’ Earth-like planets

Published by Jenni Sidey

A young red dwarf can look calm from a distance. But buried in its light may be the chemical remains of a wrecked world. That is the picture emerging from a new analysis of stars in open clusters, where astronomers found some of the clearest evidence yet that certain young stars may swallow nearby rocky planets. The clue is lithium, a fragile element that should vanish early in these small stars, yet in a handful of cases is still sitting in plain view. The stars in question are red dwarfs, the smallest and coolest stars in the universe, and by far the most common. They are dim compared with the Sun, but their interiors run hot enough to destroy lithium soon after they form. That makes any later detection of lithium stand out sharply. “We found that a few of the red dwarf stars we studied contained lithium, a chemical element that should not be there,” lead author Professor Robin Jeffries of Keele University said. “Therefore even a small amount of lithium stands out clearly …

Astronomers map the climate of Earth-like exoplanets for the first time

Astronomers map the climate of Earth-like exoplanets for the first time

Published by Jenni Sidey

A pair of scorched worlds circling the red dwarf TRAPPIST-1 now offer one of the clearest looks yet at what life may be up against around the most common stars in the Milky Way. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, an international team that included researchers from the University of Bern and the University of Geneva has, for the first time, mapped the climate of rocky exoplanets with masses similar to Earth. Their target was not a giant gas planet or a bloated world with an easy-to-read atmosphere, but two small rocky planets in the famous TRAPPIST-1 system, known as TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c. What they found was stark. The two worlds seem to swing between blistering daylight and brutal cold, with day-to-night temperature differences topping 500 degrees Celsius. That kind of contrast points to a simple conclusion: neither planet appears to have a dense atmosphere capable of moving heat from one side to the other. The result, published in Nature Astronomy, sharpens one of the biggest questions in exoplanet science. Rocky planets around red dwarf …

Climate of Earth-like rocky exoplanets mapped for first time

Climate of Earth-like rocky exoplanets mapped for first time

Published by skeptic

Utilising the James Webb space telescope(JWST), an international team has mapped the climate of rocky exoplanets with masses similar to Earth in the TRAPPIST-1 system. First discovered in 2000, TRAPPIST-1 is a red dwarf star and is thought to be about 3 billion years older than the Solar System. Further discoveries in 2016 and 2017 identified at least seven exoplanets in the star’s orbit, all likely tidally locked and with circular orbits between 1.5 and 19 days. At least four of the planets in TRAPPIST-1’s orbit- TRAPPIST-1d, TRAPPIST-1e TRAPPIST-1f and TRAPPIST-1g- are considered potentially hospitable to life, as their orbital distance allows the existence of liquid water, although there is no evidence of atmospheres on any of the planets in the system. The two planets studied, TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c, are believed to have temperatures differences at day and night in excess of 500 degrees Celsius and so likely do not have atmospheres. “The TRAPPIST-1 system is incredible! Seven planets, some with masses similar to Earth’s, orbit the same star. At least three planets are located …

Astronomers identify 45 Earth-like planets in habitable zones

Astronomers identify 45 Earth-like planets in habitable zones

Published by skeptic

Astronomers have narrowed the search for extraterrestrial life by identifying a focused group of Earth-like planets that may offer the most favourable conditions for habitability. Drawing on updated stellar data and planetary records, researchers have compiled a catalogue of rocky exoplanets located within habitable zones – regions around stars where liquid water could potentially exist. The study highlights 45 planets as the strongest candidates for supporting life, out of more than 6,000 confirmed exoplanets discovered to date. A further subset of 24 planets falls within a more restrictive definition of habitability, offering a refined framework for future observation and analysis. Defining the habitable zone The concept of the habitable zone remains central to the search for life beyond Earth. It refers to the orbital region around a star where temperatures are neither too extreme for liquid water to persist on a planet’s surface. Water, widely considered essential for life as we know it, makes this zone a primary target for astronomers. Using updated measurements from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission alongside data from the …