New Delhi, India

A potentially habitable planet which was discovered by scientists has destroyed its own atmosphere. Known as Trappist-1e, the planet is most likely inhospitable to alien life now.

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The electric currents, which were created by the planet, have led to the stripping of the atmosphere as the planet has been racing near its red dwarf host star. 

This is a significant discovery since the Trappist-1 system, in which this exoplanet orbits a small red dwarf star, was one of the major targets where alien life was being hunted.

Among the seven Earth-like planets in the system, at least three are present in the habitable zone, which is a region around a star that is neither too hot nor too cold and lets a planet support liquid water.

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However, if a planet lacks an atmosphere, it cannot hold on to liquid water, even if it is in the habitable zone which is called the "Goldilocks zone." 

Also Read: NASA discovers ‘super-Earth’ with habitable zone. This planet 137 light years away assures…

The present condition proves that Trappist-1e may be the habitable zone of red dwarf Trappist-1 - which is at a distance of 40 light-years from Earth - however, its habitability may be fleeting.

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The phenomenon which has affected the atmosphere of Trappist-1e, is also likely to have impacted the atmospheres of the other planets which are present in the habitable zone and has decreased the hope of finding life in this system.

What is stripping the atmosphere of exoplanets?

Trappist-1e is approximately the size of the Earth, however, it has around 0.7 times the mass of our planet. It is located fourth place from its star and orbits at just 0.028 times the distance between the sun and Earth, hence, completing one orbit in only 6.1 Earth days.

Even though Trappist-1 is in close proximity, it is much smaller and cooler than the sun and the habitable zone is closer to its surface in comparison to the habitable zone of our star.

So, the radiation from the red dwarf is not stripping the atmosphere of TRAPPIST-1e, but it is a wind of charged particles which is blowing from the star and is known as the "stellar wind." 

Watch: Planet warming at an accelerating rate

"We looked at how the space weather changes through the planet's orbit, with TRAPPIST-1e transitions very rapidly between very different stellar wind conditions and pressures, leading to a sort of pulsing compression and relaxation of the planetary magnetic field," said Cecilia Garraffo, team member and an astrophysicist at Harvard & Smithsonian, while speaking to Space.com. 

"This drives strong electric currents in the upper atmosphere — the ionosphere — that heat up the atmosphere just like an electric heater," Garraffo added. 

(With inputs from agencies)