Scientists Find A Habitable Twin Planet Earth

Earth / NASA Photo Illustration

JAKARTA - Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen, Germany, discovered a planet that is very similar to Earth. Even the planets found from thousands of space objects are claimed to be habitable.

Quoted from Mirror.uk, Tuesday, June 9, nicknamed KOI-456.04, this planet is less than twice the size of Earth. There are also stars that orbit and look like the sun.

According to scientists the Kepler-160 star and planet, KOI-456.04, is more similar to the Sun-Earth system than the previously known pair of exoplanet planets, even though it is more than 3,000 light years away.

Meanwhile, its star host called Kepler-160 actually emits visible light like infrared radiation, is smaller and fainter than the Sun, so this planet belongs to the class of red dwarfs with a surface temperature of about 5,200 ° C, about 300 ° lower than the Sun. on earth.

With the help of space telescopes such as CoRoT, Kepler and TESS, scientists have discovered about 4000 exoplanets (planets around distant stars) in the last 14 years. Most of these planets are the size of the gas giant Neptune, about four times the size of Earth, and in relatively close orbits around their respective host stars.

Researchers believe that life on this planet has potentially twice as much time as life on Earth to form and develop. Several planets have previously been found orbiting stars, including two potentially habitable planets called Kepler-160b and Kepler-160c.

“KOI-456.01 is relatively large compared to many other planets that are considered potentially habitable. But it is the combination of planet Earth's size which is less than twice this size and its Sun-type host star that makes it so special and familiar, "said MPS scientist and study lead author Dr. René Heller.

While this research raises hope in the search for life beyond our planet, the researchers say that at this point in time we cannot rule out the possibility that the findings are a measurement error rather than a real planet.

So far researchers are 85 percent sure that KOI-456.01 is a planet, but getting formal planet status requires 99 percent further research.

"The surface conditions on KOI-456.04 can be similar to those known on Earth, provided that the atmosphere is not too massive and unlike Earth. The amount of light received from its host star is about 93 percent of the sunlight received on Earth. If KOI-456.04 is mostly has an inert atmosphere with a greenhouse effect similar to Earth, so its surface temperature averages +5 degrees Celsius, which is about ten degrees lower than Earth's average global temperature, "added dr. Heller.

While some of the most powerful telescopes on Earth may be able to validate the planet's candidate by observing one of its impending transits. However, there is a good chance that the PLATO space mission from ESA will be able to confirm this planet. PLATO is slated to launch in 2026 and one of its main scientific goals is the discovery of an Earth-sized planet around a star like the Sun.