Earth named Glize

Astronomers first discovered habitable planet.



Earthlings are not alone in the universe. This conclusion is increasingly inclined scientists around the world. Another confirmation of this hypothesis was the message that astronomers literally next to the solar system found a planet on which life is potentially possible. The open celestial body is five times the size of the Earth, and the temperature on its surface ranges from 0 to 40 degrees Celsius, which creates a quite comfortable habitat. It is already known that the new planet is shrouded in a dense layer of the atmosphere and has a rocky surface.





Twins brothers

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The discovery of the Earth twin belongs to a team of scientists from Switzerland, France and Portugal, who, using the 3.8-meter telescope of the Southern European Observatory La Silla, located in Chile, discovered an earth-like planet. Super-Earth, as it was called by astronomers, received the index "Gliese 581 c". It is located in the constellation Libra at a distance of 20.5 light years from our galaxy. The star around which the “new Earth” is drawn is the so-called red dwarf Gliese 581. Unlike the Earth, which makes one revolution around the Sun in one year, its twin revolves around its “host” in just 13 days. This is not the only difference - the force of gravitational attraction on this planet is 1.6 times stronger than the earth. And most importantly - the planet “Gliese 581 c” has an atmosphere and is located in a zone that creates the most comfortable conditions for the emergence of life.



Red dwarfs are relatively small stars whose lifespan is longer than that of the Sun. Only a few years ago, scientists suggested that there could be one or another form of life on the planets revolving around them. So far, 220 planets have been discovered that are similar to the Earth, but are outside the solar system. However, all of them were either too hot for life, as they are too close to the stars, or too cold.



The red dwarf, which is the owner of the “new Earth”, is three times lighter than the Sun and colder than it. In addition, it has relatively little energy. These facts make it possible for astronomers to assume that this star appeared relatively recently, since the star used to be too hot and the temperature on the planet was too high.



The differences are not limited to this. Scientists note that the new planet is 14 times closer to its “host star” than the Earth is from the Sun, therefore from it the red dwarf seems 20 times larger than the Moon for earthlings. In addition, experts suggest that the planet does not rotate around its axis, so the sun always shines on one side of it, while the other always remains in darkness. It is already absolutely certain that on “Gliese 581 c” there are polar caps, which to the south turn into reservoirs. According to a specialist from the University of Geneva, Michel Mayer, “there should be an atmosphere on the planet, as if it were not there, the heat from the star would simply evaporate all the water.” However, despite this, scientists do not exclude the fact that the average temperature on the planet may be higher than the Earth's temperature and rise from 32 to 100 degrees Celsius.



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