Human beings have been conducting extraterrestrial exploration over the years, and have set their sights outside the solar system from a very early time, hoping to find extraterrestrial civilizations or other habitable planets similar to the earth, to lay the foundation for the future Prepare for Star Immigration .
Extraterrestrial Exploration
Previously, American scientists announced their latest discovery, stating that they had found two super Earths. then. Where are these two super-Earths? Can they give birth to life?
Super Earths discovered by American scientists
It is reported that the two super Earths previously announced by American scientists were actually discovered as early as October 2021. A red dwarf star was observed on the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite "Tess" The signs were discovered at that time, and after continuous monitoring, it was confirmed and announced in 2022.
The number of this red dwarf star is HD 260655, and during its observation, the light of pair of stars changed periodically.
The discovery of "Tess"
Astronomers were very concerned about this flickering situation, so they continued to track and observe it for half a year, and in the process, they kept recording the changes in the star spectrum . Ultimately, it was stated that the reason why the red dwarf star exhibits this characteristic is because there are planets orbiting it. Therefore, HD 260655 is actually similar to the sun in the solar system.
The light variation of the star
As a red dwarf star, it should be considered to be relatively large in mass among many red dwarf brothers. is about 43.9% of the solar mass . Since red dwarfs do not have extremely strong internal material reactions like massive stars, their surface temperature is relatively low, only about 500℃.
The red dwarf star
and the two planets surrounding it are named HD 260655b and HD 260655c. They are called super-Earths because they are very similar to the earth. They are both rocky planets . They can also be called terrestrial planets .
As for the word "super", it is related to their size. Generally, the mass of super earths is several times greater than that of the earth, and the upper limit is about 10 times. Of the two discovered this time, the mass of HD 260655b is 2.14 times that of the Earth, and the mass of HD 260655c is 3.09 times that of the Earth.
The mass of the super Earth is greater than that of the earth
So, how far away are these two super Earths from us?
Judging from the observation data disclosed so far, the distance between them and the earth is at least 33 light years. Although compared to the larger scale of the universe, they are already very close, but compared to the current human "Tool for long distance travel", this is still an elusive distance.
The distance of light years is very far
However, this does not prevent us from being full of fantasies about it, especially paying attention to some of its other characteristics to determine whether it is habitable and whether it can breed life .
Can these two super-Earths breed life?
As we said above, one of the main characteristics of the super Earth is "Earth-like planet" , but this alone does not mean that it can breed life, because habitability is also related to three other attributes, respectively. is oceans, climate and magnetic fields . Of course, there are many sayings that also call it, liquid water, temperature and magnetic field .
The magnetic field that protects the earth
First of all, from the perspective of the formation of liquid water , if these two super-Earths are too close to their own main sequence star , they will be very hot. Under such hot conditions, the liquid water may have evaporated long ago.
According to the current observation data, their surface temperatures are around 437°C and 287°C respectively. , the situation of more than 400°C is already similar to Venus, and it is definitely impossible to breed carbon-based life on the earth. .
It may be as hot as Venus
and 287℃ seems a little lower, but it is still detrimental to the formation of liquid water and the birth of life. You may have to wait until these two planets "cool down" your feverish self before you can transform into The cradle of life.
Astrophysicist Aiwe Schuber said: "This observation undoubtedly provides a good opportunity for mankind to understand the Earth-like planets outside the solar system in detail and evaluate the composition of the atmospheres around them. Make preparations for the next time humans search for habitable planets.”
Prepare to explore more exoplanets
Scientists believe that the reason why they show such high temperatures is indeed related to the relationship between and main sequence stars . It is related to .
Take HD 260655b as an example. Its orbital radius is approximately 4.39 million kilometers, which results in its revolution period being only 2.7 days. Through this cycle, people can roughly figure out the distance between and the main sequence stars . In such a "sticky" situation, they may not only face high temperatures, but also face the problem of being "tidal locked" by .
The moon is tidally locked by the earth
In summary, super earth has some similarities with the earth, but according to the judgment criteria of habitable attribute , it is obviously unqualified. Therefore, they should not have the ability to breed life, and they are not even considered habitable planets.
The idea of a habitable planet
However, the exploration of planets in this red dwarf star system is still continuing, because although the two brothers are too close to the star and have no liquid water, there may be other planets behind them. In the "habitable zone" of defined by humans. In this case, those planets have the possibility of giving birth to life .
"Hopefully we will find more planets in this system, one of which may be in the habitable zone," said Avi Shporer, an astrophysicist at MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Studies.
Find more planets around this red dwarf
It is worth mentioning that humans have actually discovered many "super Earths" long before this. They are distributed outside the solar system and are regarded by scientists as human immigrant planets. Alternatives.
We have found many "super-Earths"
As we said in the previous article, super-Earths refer to planets with environments similar to those of the earth, but with a mass greater than that of the earth. When astronomers first discovered exoplanets in the last century, they discovered that the masses of these planets were very similar to those of the Earth.
The super-Earths that have been discovered
Of course, their mass and density are calculated by astronomers through "transit" .
The reason why we need to understand density is because if the super Earth is hollow, it will not be worth studying. After determining the transit method, in 2009 astronomers discovered a planet named CoRoT-7b, whose diameter is 1.5 times that of the Earth and its mass is five times that of the Earth.
According to estimates, it is also very close to the main sequence stars, so it is more like "Mercury" in the solar system.
According to statistics, there are about 40 super-Earths with known density. Exoplanets with a diameter less than 3.2 times that of the Earth have very high densities and are likely to be rocky planets; when the diameter exceeds 3.2 times the diameter of the Earth, the density of the planet will begin to decrease, and it may be composed of lighter planets. A gaseous planet composed of objects.
The composition of the core is very important
In addition to density, people have also detected the atmosphere of many super earths. For example, relevant data collected near GJ 1214b and HD 97658b confirmed that these two super-Earths may have thick cloud layers that are very similar to Venus.
In addition, the atmospheric composition of 5 Cancrie is filled with hydrogen , helium , hydrogen cyanide and other substances. Coupled with the high temperature of 2000°C on its surface, this means that this super earth should be completely different from the earth. Different existence.
Imaginary 55 Cancrie
It is worth mentioning that not all super earths internal are exactly the same as the earth. For example, the US Daily Science website previously published a new discovery by scientists. This newly discovered super earth core is not an iron core . Instead, it is filled with calcium, aluminum and other elements.
Caroline Dorn, an astrophysicist at the Institute of Computational Science at the University of Zurich, said that this "super Earth" is likely to have rubies and sapphires that complement each other, and these gems are actually alumina that is common in the outer solar system. .
Ruby and Sapphire
This super Earth is located in Cassiopeia . Compared with the HD 260655 brother mentioned above, it is closer to us, about 21 light years away. has a mass five times that of the Earth and a revolution period of 3 days. It is named HD219134b. It was discovered by NASA through the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2015 and is known as "a gold mine for scientific research" .
Spitzer Telescope
In addition to the above super-Earths, as human search scope expands, more super-Earths will appear in the future. Although most of them are not in habitable environments and do not have the conditions to breed life, they are still very good candidates for use as habitable planets.
I just don’t know when the development of human science and technology will reach such a distant light-year distance. If cannot build a spacecraft that is close to the speed of light, then the dream of visiting these planets will come to nothing.
And according to the conjectures of many scientists about the various life forms in the universe, there may be silicon-based life on these super earths, and perhaps they have also created their own civilization.
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