The list of planets located outside our solar system that are potentially habitable continues to grow. The new member of the list is Gliese 832 c , a super-earth that orbits the red dwarf star Gliese 832, already known to the astronomical world for hosting a planet similar to a cold Jupiter, Gliese 832 b.
The new exoplanet is, according to scientists, the planet that best meets the requirements to become a substitute for planet Earth , something like a twin. Among other things, it is the closest planet to us, since it is only 16 light years away .
Giese 832 c, which was discovered by an international team of astronomers, led by Robert A. Wittenmyer of UNSW Australia, has a 36-day orbit and a mass of at least five times that of Earth . Astronomers believe that its temperature could be very similar to that of our world, since it receives about the same average energy from its star that the Earth receives from the Sun.
One of the unknowns of this new world is whether or not its atmosphere and global composition will be ideal, since, in that case, despite the promise of this planet, it could become a very different environment from Earth and be discarded. of the catalog of habitable exoplanets , coordinated by the University of Puerto Rico in Arecibo.
Image credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, NASA Hubble, Stellarium
