The closest exoplanet to Earth is too hot to support life, but astronomers say it's part of a bigger solar system with planets that may be habitable
European astronomers on Wednesday reported that they had detected an Earth-sized planet outside the solar system. An astronomical stone's throw away at 4.37light years (25million miles), it is the closest expolanet to Earth.
The discovery breaks new ground in the hunt for mystery worlds that exist in other solar systems. The newly found planet swings close to the star Alpha Centauri B, one of a triple star system, which in cosmic terms is just next doors to us.
The planet is too close to its sun to support life, with surface temperatures of about 1,200 to 1,500 degrees Celsius. But scientists believe it is part of a more extensive solar system containing other planets, one more of which be habitable.
Despite its closeness, it would still take 40,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri using current rocket technology.
NOT JUST ANOTHER EXOPLANET
>>>The planet swings close to star Alpha CentauriB, one of a triple star system, which in cosmic terms is next door to us.
>>>The unnamed world is unusually light, containing only a little more material than Earth. It is the lightest exoplanet ever found orbiting a sun-like star.
>>>Since the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995, over 800 have been found. None, however, is Earth-sized.
The find, announced in journal Nature, was made by European Southern Observatory (ESO) astronomers. "This result represents a major step towards the detection of a twin earth in the immediate in the immediate vicinity of the sun. We live in exciting times, "Xavier Dumusque, a member of the European team from Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, told press Association.
Data published in the journal shows that the yet-to-be named world is unusually light, containing only a little more material than Earth. It is the lightest exoplanet ever found orbiting a sun-like star. "It's a landmark discovery because it's very low mass and it's our closest neighbour," said Stephane Udry from the observatory.
The ESO team measured tiny wobbles in the star's motion, tugged by the gravitational pull of the orbiting planet. The transiting planet makes the star move back and forth, in relation to Earth, by less than 2km per hour, about the speed of a baby crawling.
The minute motion was detected using a high-precision spectrograph installed on the ESO's 3. 6m telescope at La Silla, in the depths of the Atacama desert in Chile. It took hundreds of observations, spanning more than four years, for the "wobble" to be teased out of the other light signals.
Since the 1990s, more than 800 have been found.
European astronomers on Wednesday reported that they had detected an Earth-sized planet outside the solar system. An astronomical stone's throw away at 4.37light years (25million miles), it is the closest expolanet to Earth.
The planet is too close to its sun to support life, with surface temperatures of about 1,200 to 1,500 degrees Celsius. But scientists believe it is part of a more extensive solar system containing other planets, one more of which be habitable.
Despite its closeness, it would still take 40,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri using current rocket technology.
NOT JUST ANOTHER EXOPLANET
>>>The planet swings close to star Alpha CentauriB, one of a triple star system, which in cosmic terms is next door to us.
>>>The unnamed world is unusually light, containing only a little more material than Earth. It is the lightest exoplanet ever found orbiting a sun-like star.
>>>Since the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995, over 800 have been found. None, however, is Earth-sized.
The find, announced in journal Nature, was made by European Southern Observatory (ESO) astronomers. "This result represents a major step towards the detection of a twin earth in the immediate in the immediate vicinity of the sun. We live in exciting times, "Xavier Dumusque, a member of the European team from Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, told press Association.
Data published in the journal shows that the yet-to-be named world is unusually light, containing only a little more material than Earth. It is the lightest exoplanet ever found orbiting a sun-like star. "It's a landmark discovery because it's very low mass and it's our closest neighbour," said Stephane Udry from the observatory.
The minute motion was detected using a high-precision spectrograph installed on the ESO's 3. 6m telescope at La Silla, in the depths of the Atacama desert in Chile. It took hundreds of observations, spanning more than four years, for the "wobble" to be teased out of the other light signals.
Since the 1990s, more than 800 have been found.
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