New Earth-Like Planet Found, Potential for Liquid Water

Humans are curious about space. That’s why scientists have been searching for other planets in space for a long time. Now, by analyzing old data from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, a new habitable planet like Earth has been discovered.

According to scientists, ‘Although large in size, the new planet is very similar to our Earth. The planet is located only 20 light-years away from our Earth. The planet has been named HD 20794d. This new planet is six times the mass of Earth.’ Scientists believe that there is a possibility of liquid water on the surface of that planet.

Scientists have published information about this new planet in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. According to scientists from the University of Oxford in the UK, ‘This super-Earth located outside our solar system may have the potential for extraterrestrial life.’

Scientist Michael Cretignier said, ‘We are very excited. Because of its proximity, there is a possibility of conducting a mission to the planet in the future. The Earth rotates in a circular orbit, while this new planet follows an elliptical path.’

This planet was first discovered in 2022. The existence of this planet has been confirmed by examining two decades of data. Scientist Cretagne said, “This is a huge joy for me. We have finally been able to confirm the planet. It was a bit difficult to confirm because the main signal was at the very end of the detection range of the spectrograph.” He also said that a mission can be conducted to this planet in the future. Then life can be searched for.