NASA, the American space agency, released this week the discovery of the planet HD 137010 bdescribed as having the possibility of “be remarkably similar to Earth” and, therefore, could harbor life. The agency itself, however, makes a reservation: the planet may be colder than Mars, which is perpetually frozen.
According to the announcement made on Tuesday (27), it is a possible rocky planet slightly larger than Earth, orbiting a Sun-like star about 146 light years away.
Scientists are basing their studies on this exoplanet (a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun) on information collected by the Kepler space telescope, retired in 2018. This data is still being explored.
Orbital distance
The note released by NASA states that HD 137010 b may be located on the outer edge of the “habitable zone” from its star – that is, at the limit of the orbital distance that could allow liquid water to form on the planet’s surface under a suitable atmosphere and therefore harbor life.
As the data is still being analyzed, there are no conclusions. NASA estimates that the amount of heat and light this planet would receive from its star is less than a third of what Earth receives from the Sun – the star HD 137010, although similar to the Sun, is cooler and less bright. This could mean a planetary surface temperature not exceeding -68ºC; the average surface temperature of Mars is about -65ºC.
HD 137010 b will require follow-up observations to be promoted from “candidate” to “confirmed”. With luck, confirmation could come from additional observations made by Kepler/K2’s successor, NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), which is still the main instrument for detecting planets, or by the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS (CHAracterizing ExOPlanets Satellite).
50% of being in a habitable zone
Despite the possibility of a cold climate, HD 137010 b could also be a temperate or temperate world. even a water planetsay the authors of the article about this exoplanet. It would just need an atmosphere richer in carbon dioxide than ours.
The scientific team, based on modeling of the planet’s possible atmospheres, gives it a 40% chance of falling within the “conservative” habitable zone around the star and a 51% chance of falling within the “optimistic” habitable zone wider. On the other hand, the study authors state that the planet has about a 50% chance of being completely outside the habitable zone.
