THE UNIVERSITY of Warwick scientists have discovered a potential habitable Earth-sized planet 40 light years away.
The planet, named Gliese 12 b, boasts an estimated surface temperature of around 42 degrees celsius, as hot as the 2022 UK heatwave.
This makes the planet one of few known where human survival could theoretically be possible.
Gliese 12 b orbits its star, Gliese 12, every 12.8 days. It is similar in size to Earth, and its relatively close proximity presents an exciting opportunity for further study.
However, scientists remain uncertain about the planet’s atmospheric composition.
An international team of researchers, including those from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), made this discovery using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and ESA’s CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS).
Dr Thomas Wilson, an astrophysicist at the University of Warwick, played a pivotal role in confirming the planet’s existence and characteristics, including its size, temperature, and distance from Earth.
“This is a really exciting discovery and will help our research into planets similar to Earth across our Galaxy.
“Thrillingly, this planet is the closest Earth-sized and temperature planet we know.
“The light we are seeing now is from 1984 (40 years ago) – that’s how long it has taken to reach us here on Earth.
“Planets like Gliese 12 b are very few and far between, so for us to be able to examine one this closely and learn about its atmosphere and temperature is very rare.”
One of the intriguing aspects of Gliese 12 b is its orbit, which is just seven per cent of the distance between Earth and the Sun.
This close proximity means the planet receives 1.6 times more energy from its star than Earth does from the Sun.
Despite the high energy influx, Gliese 12 is a relatively quiet star, exhibiting no signs of extreme magnetic activity or powerful X-ray flares, which are common in red dwarfs and can strip planets of their atmospheres.
