An international squad of astronomers has discover two terra firma - sized planet around a nearby star only 12.5 light - twelvemonth away . They are some of the closest exoplanets to our Solar System and both revolve their star in the habitable zone , the region where water may be found in all three states .
As reported inAstronomy & Astrophysics , the star in question is called “ Teegarden ’s Star ” , a red midget only discovered in 2003 that ’s about 10 percent the muckle of the Sun . It ’s fairly faint and cool with a surface temperature of 2,700 ° degree Celsius ( 4,900 ° F ) .
Due to its lower temperature compare to the Sun , the inhabitable zone is much closer . The two planets , Teegarden b and Teegarden c , orbit in 4.9 and 11.4 days respectively and are slightly more monumental than our own planet and Venus , the heavy rough planets in the Solar System .
" The two planets resemble the internal major planet of our Solar System , " trail author Mathias Zechmeister , from the University of Göttingen , said in astatement . " They are only more or less heavier than Earth and are located in the so - call inhabitable zone , where water can be present in liquid human body . ”
Previous observation suggested that the planet might be present around this star , but there was not enough information to support it . To do so , the team used the CARMENES high - resolution spectrograph at the Calar Alto Observatory and looked for periodic variations in the brightness level of the ace over the last three days .
The method acting employed to find these planets is bonk asDoppler - spectroscopy , or the stellate - velocity method acting – about one - third of all exoplanets discover so far have been detect in this way . The tool look at the little motility of the star based on the move of the planet orbiting it . The team thinks there is a probability the system has more undiscovered planets .
" This is a great winner for the Carmenes task , which was specifically design to search for planets around the light stars , " said Professor Ansgar Reiners of the University of Göttingen , one of the scientific directors of the labor .
Thanks to the many lookout both ground - found and in space , we have now discovered more than 4,000 satellite beyond the Solar System . While Earth - sized planets are still a minority give the difficulties in notice them , dedicated instruments like TESS are expected to bring a superfluity of new worlds to the fold .
