There are numerous Super-Earth Exoplanets that can support life and we, humans, have always wanted to discover them.
Over the years, we’ve only been able to study planets within our solar system which is nothing compared to what lies outside of it.
Most astronomers believe that we’ve not even begun to scratch the surface when it comes to space. The rate at which we’re destroying mother earth is rising to staggering numbers.
In case of a global catastrophe, we will have nowhere else to go. If we plan on ensuring the survival of the human race, exploring new Super-Earth Exoplanets is vital.
What Are Super-Earth Exoplanets?
Our earth is dying and soon we’ll exhaust almost all our fossil fuels pushing ourselves into chaos. But our earth was once full of resources until humans started exploiting them.
The rate at which we use them is much greater than the rate at which they can regenerate. Potential Super-Earth Exoplanets can put an end to our suffering.
These planets have an atmosphere and terrain that’s almost similar to earth. The major drawback is that most of these planets are several light-years away making the travel impossible.
If we find a way to reach them, we can wipe the slate clean and help mankind start a new chapter.
The Discovery Of Super-Earth Exoplanets
A recent discovery has helped us identify two new exoplanets that are almost 11 light-years away.
Experts believe that there can also be a third planet that we are yet to find. All these three planets orbit a star where the third planet is a little further away from the rest.
Gliese 887, is a small red dwarf star that’s only half the size of our own sun. 11 light-years might seem like a really long distance, but it is one of the closest stars to our sun.
Gliese 887b & Gliese 887c
Red Dots Projects has a group of scientists who are working to find our nearest exoplanets. Using the HARPS spectrograph the team analyzed the star every night for over three months.
This led to the discovery of two new planets orbiting the Gliese 887. They used the “Doppler wobble” or radial velocity method to detect these planets.
The data were then compared with their previous versions that go back 20 years.
Gliese 887b takes around 9.3 Earth days to complete one orbit around the star whereas Gliese 887c takes 21.8 Earth days to do the same.
Signals indicate that there can also be a third planet that’s orbiting the star. This third star might take 50 earth days to orbit the star.
Favourable Conditions
The Gliese star is a lot cooler than our own sun. This means that the habitable zone of the star could be much closer.
Therefore, even if these three planets have a closer distance to their sun when compared to earth, they can still sustain life.
The first two planets are too close which reduces their odds of bearing liquid water. Due to this factor, they may receive 2.5 to 8 times more solar energy from the star than we do.
Even with its close proximity, the host star has favourable life-sustaining conditions. This is because the star doesn’t have a lot of dark spots and unusual solar activities.
Due to this, the atmosphere of the planets around the star could still be a lot thicker than the earth.
Conclusion
Since the star is not active and erratic, it hasn’t eroded the surface of these planets yet. In the coming years, scientists hope that we can get a lot more insights about these new Super-Earth Exoplanets.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope that’s expecting its launch next year will be capable of peering through the atmosphere of these planets making things clear for us.
The third planet is still just a signal which the Red Dots team is working hard to decode. If these planets could sustain life, we humans can perhaps save ourselves from extinction.
