Scientists discover closest known Earth-sized world only 22 light-years away
Representational image of an exoplanet in space.
An Earth-sized world was found just 22 light-years away,orbiting around a small red dwarf star.
Discovered by scientists in the US, this Earth-sized world is the closest to our Solar System.
The exoplanet has been named LTT 1445 Ac and it is some 1.37 times the mass and around 1.07 times the Earth's radius.
The planet is too hot for the existence of life, however its similarity with our Earth makes it a good option to understand how planets evolve, and what factors make an Earth-like world different from another such planet.
The scientists used data collected by the TESS exoplanet-hunting telescope in 2021 to first identify LTT 1445 Ac.
But they faced some difficulties in observing it, which meant the astronomers could not be certain of its properties.
The exoplanet exists in a different system. The star this planet orbits is one of the three stars, which is gravitationally bound in a trinary system. The scientists observe the changes in the light of the host star to find and study exoplanets, however, in systems of stars, the stellar companions also leave an effect on the other stars' light.
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How do scientists understand the properties of an exoplanet?
Two types of measurement are needed to understand an exoplanet's properties. The first is transit data which is the tiny dips in starlight which occur after an orbiting exoplanet passes between the star and the Earth.
The second measurement is radial velocity data which measures the amount of gravity tugs of an exoplanet on the star by recording changes in the starlight's wavelength as it very minutely wobbles on the spot.
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The transit data informs the scientist of an exoplanet's radius which can be calculated from the amount the light of the star which dims during a transit. The radial velocity data informs the scientists about the mass of the exoplanet.
The mass and radius combined together tell us the exoplanet's density and using that the scientists understand what the exoplanet is made of.
If the planet is found to have low density it implies it has lost of atmosphere and is like a gas giant. A higher density means it has a rocky composition, like Earth, Venus, Mars, or Mercury.
(With inputs from agencies)