Sydney, Australia (ANTARA) – Astronomers in Australia led an international team that identified a candidate for a “potentially habitable” Earth-sized planet about 150 light years from Earth.
A research team led by the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) Australia on Tuesday (27/1) reported in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters that the planet, known as HD 137010 b, orbits a star that is similar to the Sun and is about 6 percent larger than Earth.
According to a study conducted by UniSQ scientists with collaborators at Harvard University and Oxford University, the planet candidate is described as “the embodiment of when Earth meets Mars” because of its similar size to Earth and almost the same distance as Mars from its Sun-like parent star.
Scientists need to make one more transit to confirm HD 137010 b as a planet, rather than a planetary candidate.
The study says that if verified, HD 137010 b would be the only known rocky world in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star.
Reporter: Xinhua
Editor: Imam Budilaksono
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