'Super Earth' Discovered in 50 Planet Find, Scientists Claim Possibility of Life
Astronomers have discovered an array of new planets, including several Earth-like planets and one that scientists say may have the possibility of supporting life.
Using an instrument called HARPS or High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher, which is located in La Silla, Chile, scientists have discovered 50 new planets, 16 of which are being called “super-Earths.”
Of these “super-Earths,” one of them is located within the realm of its planetary system that may make it ideal for hosting life.
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The planet, called HD 85512 b, has a mass that is just 3.6 times that of the Earth and orbits within the hospitable zone of the star around which it orbits.
Residing in the hospitable zone increases the chances that HD 85512 b could have liquid water flowing on its surface, which scientists say is the key ingredient for life to exist on a planet.
"This is the lowest-mass confirmed planet discovered by the radial velocity method that potentially lies in the habitable zone of its star, and the second low-mass planet discovered by HARPS inside the habitable zone," exoplanet habitability expert Lisa Kaltenegger, of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany and Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Boston told Space.com.
A low mass in addition to its location makes HD 85512 b the most Earth like of the planets discovered in this haul.
Scientists report having found five planets with masses that are less than five times greater than that of Earth's in this haul. These planets are among those that scientists will continue to explore to discover other Earth-like qualities.
"These planets will be among the best targets for future space telescopes to look for signs of life in the planet's atmosphere by looking for chemical signatures such as evidence of oxygen," Francesco Pepe, from the Geneva Observatory, who contributed to the research, told BBC.
Lead author Dr. Michel Mayor, from the University of Geneva in Switzerland noted that several Neptune-like planets were also discovered among the 50.
