Scientists may have just discovered one of the most hospitable planets to life to date.
A team of researchers from the University of Birmingham recently announced the discovery of SPECULOOS-2c in the middle of the habitable zone of a star system that is home to moderate-enough temperatures to sustain liquid water. The researchers claim the planet is the second most hospitable planet discovered outside Earth's solar system.
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"The habitable zone is a concept under which a planet with similar geological and atmospheric conditions as Earth would have a surface temperature allowing water to remain liquid for billions of years," said Amaury Triaud, a professor of exoplanetology at the University of Birmingham who participated in the research, per Phys.org.
SPECULOOS-2c is not guaranteed to host alien life, but the researchers contend it is one of the best-suited planets for life out of the worlds they have studied so far. The planet is roughly 30% to 40% larger than the Earth and orbits its star in about 8.4 days, according to the outlet.
Triaud and his fellow researchers estimate that SPECULOOS-2c is the second most hospitable planet to life outside of TRAPPIST-1, a planet Triaud and his colleagues discovered in 2016. SPECULOOS-2c is tidally locked with its star, meaning one side is always facing it.
SPECULOOS-2c, also named LP 890-9c, was discovered near LP 890-9b and orbits a star known as SPECULOOS-2, according to the researchers. LP 890-9b, a planet that was previously identified by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, could also be hospitable to life, the researchers contended. However, they have taken a keen interest in SPECULOOS-2c specifically.
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Not much else is known about SPECULOOS-2c, and Triaud is hoping that technology such as the James Webb Space Telescope could shed additional light on the composition of its atmosphere to assess whether it could host alien life.
"It is important to detect as many temperate terrestrial worlds as possible to study the diversity of exoplanet climates and eventually to be in a position to measure how frequently biology has emerged in the cosmos," Triaud continued.
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Tags: Space, News, Science and Technology, NASA
Original Author: Ryan King
Original Location: Scientists spot planet that may be hospitable to human life