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Possible planet found in habitable zone around Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri A is the bright star to the left, which forms a triple star system with Proxima Centauri, circled in red. The bright star system to the right is Beta Centauri. Image: Wikimages
Scientists using a new technique to image exoplanets in the mid-infrared may have just found a super-Earth-sized exoplanet around Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to us. Whats more the planet is orbiting in its star’s habitable zone.
At just over 4.22 light years from Earth, Alpha Centauri shines in the sky as a single star and the third-brightest star visible from our world. But, in reality Alpha Centauri is a triple star system consisting of two sun-like stars, Alpha Cen A & B, and a smaller red dwarf star called Proxima Centauri.
EVAN GOUGH, UNIVERSE TODAY
13 FEBRUARY 2021
Astronomers using a new technique may have not only found a super-Earth at a neighbouring star, but they may also have directly imaged it. And it could be nice and cozy in the habitable zone around Alpha Centauri.
It s much easier to see giant planets than Earth-size planets. No matter which detection method is being used, larger planets are simply a larger needle in the cosmic haystack. But overall, astronomers are very interested in planets that are similar to Earth. And finding them is much more difficult.
We thought we d have to wait for the ultra-powerful telescopes currently being built before we could directly image exoplanets.
The search for life in space just took a big leap forward. Researchers working on the New Earths in the Alpha Centauri Region (NEAR) project, funded by entrepreneur Yuri Milner s Breakthrough Initiatives, have potentially discovered a new planet in the habitable zone of the nearby star Alpha Centauri A, located 4.37 light-years from Earth. Their report was published in the
Nature Communications journal this week.
In an image taken of the star via the European Southern Observatory s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, the team spotted a separate glowing object. They suspect it might be a planet one that s four to five times larger than Earth, or roughly the size of Neptune. It s located between one to two astronomical units (AU) from its star (one AU is the distance from the Earth to the sun), putting the planet in the habitable zone, where water might be able to form to support life.
New technology promises authentic images of the exoplanets in our neighbouring star system Alpha Centauri. The dress rehearsal immediately delivered something that makes astronomers dream of a great discovery.
We can all observe our solar system’s planets and dwarf planets with telescopes: Even the distant Pluto appears as a blurred sphere on the Hubble space telescope’s images.
But can today’s instruments also take pictures of planets orbiting other stars? We now know more than 4000 such exoplanets. But in most cases, they are far too far away to be seen next to their much brighter star. So far, it has only been achievable to infer their existence indirectly, for example, when the planets darken their lead a little or shake it minimally as they pass by.