'Our Next-Door Neighbor': Nearby 'Super Earth' Mass Downgrade Skyrockets Chances for Alien Life
A new analysis puts the nearby super-Earth at 2.3 Earth masses, strengthening its case as a rocky world that could retain an atmosphere.
- On June 30, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, published a study in The Astrophysical Journal revising exoplanet GJ 3378b's mass to about 2.3 Earth masses, reclassifying it as a potentially rocky super-Earth in the habitable zone.
- Combining 137 new measurements from the Habitable-zone Planet Finder at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas with existing data, the team traced the star's wobble far more precisely over roughly seven years.
- The lower mass figure shifts the planet from a likely gas world to a rocky one capable of holding a stable atmosphere, dropping from an original estimate of about 5.3 Earth masses.
- Study co-author Gogod James, an undergraduate at Irvine, said, "If a planet in the habitable zone has a proper atmosphere, we can justify further research looking for biosignatures, liquid water or other signs of life."
- Located roughly 25 light-years away, the system stands as a practical target for next-generation telescopes; lead author Paul Robertson called it "our next-door neighbour" in the Milky Way.
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Scientists initially weighed the planet GJ 3378b at 5.3 Earth masses, a number that made it a likely gas world with crushing pressure — but 137 fresh telescope measurements revised that down to 2.3, nudging it across the boundary into rocky, potentially life-bearing territory
When astronomers first weighed the planet GJ 3378 b, they got a figure of about 5.3 times the mass of Earth. That was heavy enough to make it a likely gas world, wrapped in a thick atmosphere with crushing pressure and no surface to speak of. Then a fresh run of telescope measurements, 137 of them, revised the number down to about 2.3, nudging the planet across the boundary into rocky, potentially life-bearing territory. It is a neat illustratio…
'Our Next-Door Neighbor': Nearby 'Super Earth' Mass Downgrade Skyrockets Chances for Alien Life
A nearby 'super Earth' in one of the closest star systems to our own appears far more likely to support alien life than first believed, after astronomers sharply downgraded its mass using new data gathered in Texas. The researchers reanalysed GJ 3378b, an exoplanet discovered in 2024 orbiting a red dwarf star roughly 25 light-years from Earth. When it was first detected, the world seemed to be about five times as massive as our planet, hovering …
Astronomers discover promising super Earth that could support life
A nearby planet that could potentially support life may be more Earth-like than scientists first believed. New observations suggest the planet, called GJ 3378b, is smaller and rockier than earlier estimates, making it an even more exciting target in the search for life beyond our solar system. GJ 3378b is about 25 light-years away from […] The post Astronomers discover promising super Earth that could support life appeared first on Knowridge Sci…
Astronomers from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) discovered a potentially habitable exoplanet only 25 light-years away from Earth.
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