![]() The range of suitable orbits around a star is known as the habitable zone.įor a Sun-like star, any terrestrial planets orbiting at the right distance for a habitable climate would consequently have an orbital period identical to ours: ie, one year. It would have to orbit a Sun-like star at the right distance, so it receives just the right amount of heat to support liquid water on its surface – water being a prerequisite for all life as we know it. “Many different competing groups are rushing to claim the prize of discovering the first Earth-mass exoplanet, but the really exciting discovery would be a true Earth analogue,” says Don Pollacco, team leader of the SuperWASP exoplanet survey at Queen’s University, Belfast.Ī ‘second Earth’ would be a rocky planet with a similar mass to Earth. ![]() ![]() ![]() The smallest is still over three times more massive than Earth, and so it’s been dubbed a ‘super-Earth’. Most are gas giants, larger even than Jupiter. Today, 329 exoplanets are known, but none are much like Earth. Since then, astronomers have been discovering so-called exoplanets at an ever-quickening rate. This story really begins in 1992, when the first world orbiting another star beyond our Solar System was discovered.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |