A Planet With An Earth-like Atmosphere Has Been Found! Livable?

Illustration of planet TOI-1231 b which is said to have an Earth-like atmosphere (NASA Gov)

JAKARTA – The search for habitable planets continues. Experts are reported to have managed to find a planet that has an atmosphere like Earth. The research was carried out by experts from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the United States Space Agency (NASA), and the University of New Mexico.

The planet was detected using photometric data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the Planet Finder Spectograph (PFS) on the Magellan Clay telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

The researchers named the planet which is believed to have an Earth-like atmosphere with the name TOI-1231 b. The planet TOI 1231 b has a smaller size than the planet Neptune, which orbits for 24 days. TOI-1231 b orbits the dwarf star M.

Science Daily reports that M dwarfs are the most common stars in the Milky Way, making up about 70 percent of all stars in the galaxy.

"TOI-1231 b is very similar in size and density to Neptune, so we think it has a similarly large gaseous atmosphere," said Jennifer Burt, lead author of the study.

According to Diana Dragomir, a scientist from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico, TOI-1231 b is eight times closer to its star than Earth is from the Sun. The temperature around the planet is also similar to Earth's because its host star is cooler and less bright.

"However, the planet itself is actually bigger than Earth and slightly smaller than Neptune, we call it sub-Neptune," Dragomir said.

In addition, the temperature of TOI-1231 b is estimated at 330 Kelvin or 56.85 degrees Celsius. These conditions make the planet TOI-1231 b as one of the small exoplanets that can be accessed to examine recent atmospheric findings.

From the results of research conducted by experts, the planet TOI-1231 b is predicted to have high clouds in its atmosphere. This makes it difficult for scientists to determine what kind of gas surrounds it. Even so, astronomers were surprised by evidence of finding water in the atmosphere of TOI-1231 b.

"TOI-1231 b is the only other planet we know of in the same size and temperature range, so future observations of this new planet will allow us to determine how common (or infrequent) water clouds form there," said Burt.

In addition, Dragomir also revealed that TOI-1231 b is surrounded by a substantial atmosphere, he also ruled out the possibility that the planet is a rocky planet given its low density.

"TOI-1231 b could have a large hydrogen or hydrogen-helium atmosphere, or a denser water vapor atmosphere," Dragomir said.

The discovery of TOI-1231 b, which is considered to have habitable potential, has attracted the attention of astronomers. However, researchers do not yet know the composition and extent of the planet's atmosphere TOI-1231 b.