Finding new exoplanets is always awing , but happen upon exoplanets within the lead ’s inhabitable zone are exponentially more exciting . A team conduct by Robert Wittenmyer of the University of New South Wales has announced the find of the Super - EarthGliese 832 blow , which could very well reverse out to be the unspoilt nominee for extraterrestrial sprightliness get wind to date . It ’s also passably close , cosmologically speaking , which adds to the intrigue . The team ’s paper has been accepted for publishing inThe Astrophysical Journal , but has been made available online in an open access data format onarXiv.org .
Gliese 832 is a red gnome lead that is located 16.1 light - years aside in the constellation Grus . stargazer find out a Jupiter analog orbiting the star back in 2009 , but its orbit takes nine years to complete ; far beyond the whiz ’s inhabitable geographical zone . Gliese 832 snow search much more bright . Though only two satellite in the system of rules are known , it seem to be organized quite similarly to our own solar system .
The major planet is about 5.4 times more monumental than Earth and has an Earth Similarity Index ( ESI ) of 0.81 , which equate an exoplanet ’s radius , escape speed , surface temperature , and compactness to Earth . Other exoplanets with similar ESI values admit Gliese 667 Cc ( ESI 0.84 , 22 abstemious - year away ) and Kepler-62e ( ESI 0.83 , 1,200 light - class away ) . ESI does not account for the planet ’s potential habitability , which makes Gliese 832 speed of light a little more of a precedency for further analysis .
Gliese 832 snow has an orbital period of only 36 days . While this does seem fairly short by our standards , the host star is much smaller and cooler than our Sun . This final result in Gliese 832 c getting the same amount of solar energy as Earth . One aspect of Gliese 832 c that could make or break away its likelihood of supporting life is its atmosphere . Researchers are n’t sure about the aura ’s composition or compactness . A obtuse standard atmosphere would make the planet much too blistering for liveliness , and Gliese 832 century would be more like a Super - Venus than Super - Earth . If the atmosphere is not quite as dumb , it could have conditions form somewhat similar to Earth , albeit with dandy seasonal variance .
