Scientists Found A Super-Earth That Has 617 Days Each Year
Scientists have discovered a "Super-Earth" planet in the center of our galaxy, and it has a water-vapor rich atmosphere. Does this mean we've found another planet to relocate to when this Earth takes a turn for the worst?
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There are lots of planets out there in the Milky Way, and you probably know the name of a few of them. While it's funny to think about little green aliens walking around on Venus living their little alien lives, the reality is that all of the planets we know of (so far) aren't able to support life.
Different chemicals make up their atmospheres (and don't have enough oxygen to keep us humans alive), and they have also pretty extreme weather: plasma tornadoes, extreme temperatures, hurricanes that rage for 150 years, methane rain and more unpleasant things.
So science's search for another planet that has an atmosphere as inviting as Earth continues. That is, until a few days ago when researchers at the University of Canterbury discovered a Super-Earth planet toward the center of our galaxy.
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Super-Earth has a mass between Earth and Neptune's masses, and it orbits at a location between Venus and Earth. Amazingly, Super-Earth has an atmosphere rich with water vapor (one of the main keys to sustaining life) and it has an orbit comparable to Earth's orbit. Super-Earth has a small host star (meaning it's own Sun) that is 10% the mass of our Sun, and a year there lasts 617 days. Phew. If 2020 lasted for 617 days on this Earth, I'd try to find another planet to live on.
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The researchers at the University of Canterbury discovered Super-Earth with something called gravitational microlensing, but the odds of discovering a planet so similar to Earth is one in a million. Using a network of telescopes across the globe, the researchers lucked out when they looked at the right part of the galaxy at the right time (well, they did a lot of hard work to find it too). This type of discovery only happens a handful of times in a lifetime.
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Experts are pretty sure that this planet isn't inhabitable, but the fact that it has a similar mass and orbit to regular old Earth should keep us all interested until the next Earth-like planet shows up. It's unlikely that we'll ever find another planet similar enough to Earth to relocate to, but in the meantime, we might as well enjoy this one and all the strange delights it has to offer.
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