Astronomers Discover Super-Earth In Habitable Zone Just 20 Light-Years From Earth
Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery, unveiling a super-Earth located a mere 20 light-years from Earth, situated in the habitable zone of its parent star. This remarkable find, known as Gliese 251 c, has sparked excitement among scientists and space enthusiasts alike. The discovery was made possible by the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder (HPF), a high-precision instrument attached to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory. The HPF is specifically designed to search for planets within the habitable zone, also referred to as the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions are suitable for liquid water to exist on a planet's surface. According to SYFY via Yahoo News, the Gliese 251 c signal was later confirmed using the NEID spectrometer at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. The results of this extraordinary find were published in The Astronomical Journal. Gliese 251 c orbits a cooler dwarf star, and its proximity to the star is much closer than Mercury's distance to the Sun. However, due to the star's cooler nature, its habitable zone is significantly closer.
The newly discovered planet sits perfectly within this zone, making it an intriguing candidate for further study.
We've been searching for decades and, so far, we haven't heard from anyone and we haven't found anywhere that looks quite like home.Alternative viewpoints and findings: Check here
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