The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has made an exciting discovery, finding a new potentially habitable earth-size exoplanet. The discovery was made by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) [9e689f6b]. Masayuki Kuzuhara, a project assistant professor at the Tokyo Astrobiology Center, announced the discovery, stating that they have found 'the nearest, transiting, temperate, Earth-size world located to date.' The exoplanet, named Gliese 12 b, is estimated to be about 1.1 times the size of Earth and is located 40 light-years away from Earth [5812d94a].
Gliese 12 b orbits a red dwarf star and is situated in the habitable zone, also known as the 'Goldilocks Zone,' where conditions may be favorable for liquid water to exist on the planet's surface. This makes Gliese 12 b a prime candidate for further study regarding its potential habitability [9e689f6b].
Michael McElwain, a research astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, confirmed the discovery and emphasized the need for more examples like Gliese 12 b to better understand the diversity of atmospheres and evolutionary outcomes for these exoplanets [9e689f6b].
Efforts are underway to study Gliese 12 b's atmosphere and determine its habitability. The James Webb Space Telescope, set to launch soon, will play a crucial role in gathering data on the planet's mass and atmosphere, providing valuable insights into its potential for supporting life [4905a6be], [5812d94a].
In addition to the discovery of Gliese 12 b, the James Webb Space Telescope has also made another significant finding. It has detected an Earth-like planet named SPECULOOS-3b, located 55 light-years away from Earth. SPECULOOS-3b orbits an ultra-cool red dwarf star and has a rocky composition similar in size to Jupiter. However, the high-energy radiation emitted by its star and its tidally locked nature make it unlikely to be habitable [e01af5ba].
Further research will be conducted using the James Webb Space Telescope to gather more information about SPECULOOS-3b and its surroundings. Scientists hope to study the planet's atmosphere and potentially uncover more details about its composition and conditions [e01af5ba].
These discoveries mark significant milestones in the exploration of potential life beyond Earth, providing valuable insights into the diversity and characteristics of exoplanets [9e689f6b], [e01af5ba].
The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, is being used to study the atmospheres of exoplanets and has already detected water, carbon dioxide, methane, and more on other worlds. Scientists hope to use the telescope to answer five key questions about exoplanets: 1) Why do some rocky planets have atmospheres while others don't? 2) What is exoplanet geology like? 3) What are rocky exoplanets made of? 4) What are sub-Neptunes made of? 5) How do gas planets form? The telescope's observations could provide insights into the composition, geology, and formation of exoplanets [ac48c21f].
A new study has found that Arrokoth, a snowman-shaped space rock located in the outskirts of our solar system beyond Pluto, is covered in sugars similar to those found in human cells. The sugars include glucose and ribose, which are fundamental building blocks of RNA, the molecule found in cells of humans and most of Earth's lifeforms. Although Arrokoth is too cold to support life as we know it, the findings suggest that smaller comets could have transported sugar molecules required for the origin of life from Arrokoth to early Earth billions of years ago. The research was led by Dr. Cornelia Meinert of CNRS-University Côte d'Azur in France [9f653599].