Detected two 'super Earths' in habitable zones

The researchers found that two exoplanets that are nearly eight times the size of the Earth could have liquid water, orbiting stars close to the sun.

A team of researchers led by experts at the Carnegie Institute of Science found 16 celestial bodies orbiting nine red dwarfs. Among them, 5 are new exoplanets, 8 need more observations and 3 were found earlier. The researchers publish their results in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.

Two exoplanets near the Earth have conditions suitable for developing life.(Photo: Mirror).

Among the newly discovered exoplanets, most notably GJ180d and GJ229Ac , two super-Earths located in the habitable zone of red dwarfs. Both host stars are among the stars closest to the Sun. Because red dwarfs are cooler and smaller than the Sun, the planets orbiting them may contain liquid water on the surface despite having more orbit closer to their host than other star systems. Therefore, GJ180d and GJ229Ac become future observations of the James Webb space telescope.

GJ180d and GJ229Ac are at least 7.5 to 7.9 times more massive than Earth and orbital periods are 106 and 122 days, respectively. According to research leader Fabo Feng, many planets rotate around the axis at the same speed orbiting as the Moon and Earth. This means that one side of the planet always faces its star and permanently stays as bright as day while the other side is engulfed in darkness. However, the GJ180d is not locked under the star tide so it can experience day and night alternately.

GJ229Ac is interesting again because this super Earth is in a binary star system including red dwarf GJ229A and brown dwarf. Also known as a failing star , the brown dwarf is too big to be a planet but too small to be a star. Researchers believe that brown dwarfs form similarly to ordinary stars but do not have a dense enough core to accelerate fusion.

The team also discovered exoplanet GJ433d, an unexplored cold planet like Neptune. GJ433 is not in the habitable group like GJ180d and GJ229Ac because if it exists, the water on the planet's surface will definitely freeze.

The researchers discovered new exoplanets using radial velocity. They use many advanced equipment to detect microscopic fluctuations in the orbit of the star due to the gravitational pull of the host star and the planet orbiting it.