New Earth-like planet discovered.

Shishir Dholakia, a PhD student in astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland (Australia), is a member of the international team that published this finding in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

“Doing some basic calculations, we figured out that Gliese 12b could be Earth-sized, have a temperate climate, and it’s actually very close. Within about a day, we were thinking about announcing this discovery, because it’s such a great thing,” he said.

Gliese 12b is located just 40 light-years away from us. (Illustrative image)

Gliese 12b is about the size of Earth or slightly smaller, roughly the same size as Venus, with an estimated surface temperature of around 42 degrees Celsius. Its 12-day orbit revolves around Gliese 12, a cool red dwarf in the constellation Pisces. Gliese 12 is about one-quarter the size of the Sun and has a surface temperature of about 60% of that of the Sun.

Dholakia, who collaborated with NASA to confirm the new planet, co-led the team with another PhD student at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) - Larissa Palethorpe.

"It's only 40 light-years away, and while that doesn't mean we can reach it in the near future, we can observe it through the world's largest space telescopes and understand its atmosphere," Dholakia said.

That could help shed light on our solar system, he explained. “Earth and Venus are prime examples of how atmospheres can alter a planet’s surface. So, while Earth is a haven for life as we know it, Venus is hot enough to melt lead on its surface.”

“And the difference between these two planets is largely due to Venus having a very harsh atmosphere. So we think that this planet, which is right between Earth and Venus in terms of the amount of light it receives from the sun, could really help us understand why Venus and Earth are so different,” Dholakia said.

According to NASA, Gliese 12b is a promising candidate for further study using the James Webb Space Telescope.

(Source: tienphong.vn)

Link: https://tienphong.vn/phat-hien-hanh-tinh-moi-giong-trai-dat-post1640472.tpo#&gid=1&pid=1

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/phat-hien-hanh-tinh-moi-giong-trai-dat-ar873358.html