Exoplanet Gliese 12b boasts an Earth-like atmosphere and orbits a cool red dwarf star.
According to Sci-News, a research team led by Dr. Masayuki Kuzuhara from the Astrobiology Center (Tokyo, Japan) identified Gliese 12b within the vast dataset collected by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).
Gliese 12b has an orbital period of 12.76 days around its parent star and an equilibrium temperature of approximately 42 degrees Celsius, which is considerably warmer than Earth (Earth’s average surface temperature is 15 degrees Celsius).
However, 42 degrees Celsius is still within the range for Gliese 12b to possess liquid water on its surface and feature many temperate zones suitable for life, even “fragile” Earth-like life
forms.
It receives 1.6 times more energy from its parent star than Earth receives from the Sun, and about 85% of what Venus experiences.
Nevertheless, Gliese 12b has a significant atmosphere, which could influence its surface temperature. The calculated temperature mentioned above does not account for this atmospheric layer.
Calculations also indicate that the planet is roughly the size of Earth or slightly smaller, comparable to Venus, adding another factor that supports the planet’s habitability.
Understanding the Parent Star
Furthermore, scientists also considered the “behavior” of the parent star, Gliese 12. As a red dwarf star, Gliese 12 could exhibit extreme “behavior” that might strip away the planet’s atmosphere, causing it to lose water and become barren like Venus, even if it could regenerate its atmosphere.
However, models suggest that this particular red dwarf star does not have a tendency to behave in such a way.
More specific observational steps will be needed to confirm whether any organisms are living on this intriguing planet.
But we have a tremendous advantage: The parent star Gliese 12, also known as TOI-6251 or GJ 12, is located only 40 light-years from the Sun, in the constellation Pisces. This makes it one of the star systems closest to our Solar System, and of course, observing the planets around it with available tools will be much more convenient.
The discovery of this potentially habitable planet was recently published in the scientific journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.
