Is there a planet that might have even better conditions for life than Earth? NASA may now have made such a discovery.
Washington – A planet that meets the conditions for life or may already be home to alien life – space explorers have been looking for it for ages. Now there is a new hot lead for NASA: With the help of the TESS telescope, the space agency has discovered a possible habitable planet. Most recently, NASA knocked an asteroid out of orbit for the first time in space history by crashing a $300 million spacecraft.
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One study about the new discovery was published in the journal Astrobiology released. Accordingly, the find is the exoplanet LP 890-9c. Expoplanet means that the planet is outside of our solar system and instead is under the influence of another star, i.e. is part of another planetary system. So does the newly discovered exoplanet LP 890-9c: It was discovered after NASA examined the star LP 890-9 more closely and first found another exoplanet orbiting this star. After more detailed observations, the TESS space telescope was also able to identify the exoplanet LP 890-9c in the same system.
LP 890-9c: NASA discovers possible more habitable planet than Earth
The discovery of the exoplanet is of great importance as it may meet the conditions for finding life in space. About 40 percent larger than Earth, LP 890-9c takes about 8.5 days to orbit its sun, star LP 890-9. It is “within the conservative habitable zone,” the authors of the study announce. This means that the planet is in an area around the star that suggests a suitable temperature for life. In other words, water can exist in liquid form there and thus support life. Again Focus citing the same study, the newly discovered planet may even trump Earth in creating particularly habitable conditions.
“The discovery of this remarkable system offers another rare opportunity to study temperate terrestrial planets around our smallest and coldest neighbors,” the study continues. Further research should now take a closer look at the exoplanet and, at best, provide information as to whether life may already exist or be possible there. Recently, the research vehicle “Perseverance” detected remnants of life on Mars. NASA is over the moon. (na)
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