We are not the only ones

Astronomers and scientists in general are always looking for new planets outside the solar system, especially with the goal of finding new possible forms of life.

One of the most recent discoveries in this regard is 100 light-years from planet Earth. In this case, it would be about two rocky planets, which were found orbiting the star LP 890-9, also known as SPECULOOS-2.

The study in question about the two planets could have been carried out by scientists from the University of Liege and the University of Birmingham respectively, who reported the details in the famous trade journal. Astronomy and astrophysics.

Only the innermost body, aka LP 890-9 BIndeed, it is larger than the Earth itself. The time it takes to complete a full orbit around its star is about 2.7 days. The planet has already been in the eyes of scientists since the time of the expedition Transiting the Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)whose goal was to search for exoplanets orbiting nearby.

After being tracked down by NASA’s TESS Space Telescope, an exoplanet was later confirmed by Speculoos. TESS in particular will take advantage of the brightness of stars to monitor and search for exoplanets within the universe. The telescopes that were used for the research project are currently at the Paranal Observatory of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile, as well as on the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands).

There may be life

The second planet that is always discovered thanks to Speculus is called instead LP 890-9cwith somewhat similar dimensions (being About 40% larger than planet Earth) but with a completely different orbital time around its star, in this case equal to about 8.5 days. These properties will allow, among other things, to be a habitable area, with atmospheric and geological conditions very similar to those on planet Earth, with water that in this state managed to remain in a liquid state for millions and millions of years.

To collect and confirm this data was Michael Gillon, a researcher at the University of Liège and lead author of the project. The orbital period of this entity, equal to 8.5 days, allows this exoplanet to meet the conditions of habitability. One of the next goals that scientists set for themselves in this regard is the study of the atmosphere of this planet.

At this point we just have to wait for more updates about these two new exoplanets and others in the future, which we are sure won’t be long over the next few months or years.