An international team of researchers has confirmed the existence of an exoplanet first identified by Oxford researcher Dr Michael Cretignier in 2022. Researchers have described the planet as “among the closest Earth-analogues we know about” giving it promising research potential.
An exoplanet is a planet which orbits a star outside our own Solar System. This particular exoplanet has a mass six times that of earth and orbits around its host star every 647 days. Importantly, like Earth, the planet has an elliptical orbit in the ‘Goldilocks’ or ‘habitable’ zone, which refers to an area around a host star where liquid water can exist – an essential ingredient for supporting life.
The exoplanet, known as HD 20794 d, was confirmed by analysing 20 years of data from the HARPS and ESPRESSO spectrographs in Chile, which are instruments used to discern the composition and motion of celestial objects through separating light into its component colours. The lead author of the paper which confirmed the planet’s existence, Nicola Nari, noted that “very few instruments in the world can achieve the level of precision required for a discovery like this.”
The exoplanet can be considered a near neighbour given that it is only 20 light years from our own Solar System. According to Dr Cretignier in the University of Oxford press release this means that “there is hope for future space missions to obtain an image of it”. He added “I am now very enthusiastic to hear what other scientists can tell us about this newly discovered planet.”
The discovery has created exciting opportunities for future research. Fellow researcher Alejandro Suárez Mascareño said that while the planet is not a second home for humans, its position and orbit pattern give scientists a unique opportunity to study how conditions for habitability can change over time and how such variations may influence the evolution of the planet’s atmosphere.
Researchers confirm existence of exoplanet in the habitable zone
