The Closest Exoplanet Similar To The Earth Was Found
Astronomers have confirmed that an Earth-like planet orbits a red dwarf located 22 light-years from the Sun. It is the closest Earth-like world found so far to our solar system
The planet LTT 1445 Ac was discovered by the TESS telescope in 2021. It was discovered by the transit method, as an object passing in front of its star and reducing its brightness.
To more accurately determine the transit parameters, the researchers connected the Hubble Space Telescope to observe LTT 1445 Ac. With its help, it was possible to determine with the highest accuracy the characteristics of the event, namely the orbital period of the exoplanet, how it passes across the disk of the star and its effect on the radial velocity of the host star. Knowing this information, scientists easily calculated the radius and mass of the exoplanet. The exoplanet LTT 1445 Ac turned out to be approximately 1.37 times heavier than the Earth, and its radius was only 1.07 times the radius of our planet.
The calculated density of the exoplanet LTT 1445 Ac turned out to be 5.9 g/cm3. The density of the Earth is 5.51 g/cm3. It is not difficult to understand that the composition and structure of the exoplanet are very close to those of Earth. What’s sad is that there is no biological life known to us on Earth there. The orbital period of rotation of the world LTT 1445 Ac is only 3.12 days. Even taking into account the fact that the home star of this planet is a dim red dwarf much fainter than our Sun, the temperature on the surface of LTT 1445 Ac reaches 260 °C.
Further studying of the object will help scientists understand how Earth-like exoplanets are formed. And this will help researchers to understand how probable is the appearance of life somewhere outside our planet.
