This Newfound Alien Planet Has 3 Suns Space.com
– July 27, 2019
Astronomers think they’ve spotted an alien planet with three suns on its
horizon ر but that still isn’t the most interesting thing about the strange new
world’s sky. Scientists found the world, which they’ve dubbed LTT 1445Ab, in
data gathered by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). LTT
1445Ab orbits just one of the three stars, all of which are red dwarfs in the
latter half of their lives, and the system is about 22.5 light-years away from
Earth.
Nearby planet is ‘excellent’ target in search for life BBC – November 15, 2017
Astronomers have found a cool, Earth-sized planet that’s relatively close to
our Solar System. The properties of this newly discovered planet – called Ross
128 b – make it a prime target in the search for life elsewhere in the cosmos.
At just 11 light-years away, it’s the second closest exoplanet of its kind to
Earth. But the closest one, known as Proxima b, looks to be less hospitable for
life. Found in 2016, it orbits the star Proxima Centauri, which is known to be
a rather active “red dwarf” star. This means that powerful eruptions
of charged particles periodically batter Proxima b with harmful radiation. The
new planet, Ross 128 b, orbits a star that’s not dissimilar to Proxima Centauri
(it’s also a red dwarf), but is significantly less active.
‘Iceball’ planet discovered through microlensing Science Daily – April 26, 2017
Scientists have discovered a new planet with the mass of Earth, orbiting its
star at the same distance that we orbit our sun. The planet is likely far too
cold to be habitable for life as we know it, however, because its star is so
faint. But the discovery adds to scientists’ understanding of the types of
planetary systems that exist beyond our own.
Star’s seven Earth-sized worlds set record BBC – February 22, 2017
Astronomers have detected a record seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a single
star. The researchers say that all seven could potentially support liquid water
on the surface, depending on the other properties of those planets. But only
three are within the conventional “habitable” zone where life is
considered a possibility. The compact system of exoplanets orbits Trappist-1, a
low-mass, cool star located 40 light-years away from Earth.
Evidence of a real ninth planet discovered Science Daily – January 20, 2016
Researchers have found evidence of a giant planet tracing a bizarre, highly
elongated orbit in the outer solar system. The object, which the researchers
have nicknamed Planet Nine, has a mass about 10 times that of Earth and orbits
about 20 times farther from the sun on average than does Neptune (which orbits
the sun at an average distance of 2.8 billion miles). In fact, it would take
this new planet between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make just one full orbit
around the sun.
