It is a planet that does not rotate – one side is always in daylight and the other in darkness.
Evidence has emerged for an Earth-sized planet in the Milky Way about 86 light-years away, a rugged, rocky world plagued by constant eruptions.
Scientists said Wednesday that the planet is likely covered in volcanoes — much like Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active body in our solar system.
It is a planet that does not rotate – one side is always in daylight and the other in darkness.
“During the day it’s too hot for liquid water, so it’s probably very dry and hot—probably a desert.” On the night side, there is probably a large ice glacier,” said study co-author Björn Benecke, head of the astronomy group at the University of Montreal.
“The most interesting region is near the terminator region, where day and night meet. Here, water from the night glacier can melt and eventually form liquid surface water. In addition, there is probably volcanism everywhere on the planet, even under the ice on the night side and possibly under the water near the terminator,” Beneke said.
It is slightly larger than Earth and orbits very close to a red dwarf star – a species much smaller than our sun, with relatively low mass and temperature – completing its elliptical journey around it in just 2.8 days.
Its surface temperature appears slightly warmer than Earth’s. It sits at the inner edge of what’s called the habitable zone, or Goldilocks zone, around the star—not too hot and not too cold, perhaps capable of supporting liquid water on the surface and harboring life.
“I imagine a rough, young surface of the planet after many millions of years of constant volcanic activity. “Because gravitational effects don’t care about day and night, I also suspect that volcanic activity is evenly distributed over the planet’s surface,” said University of California, Riverside planetary astrophysicist and study co-author Stephen Cain.
“Because the planet is so volcanically active, it still contributes gases to the atmosphere from the interior. As such, the planet likely still has an atmosphere. However, it is unlikely to be habitable, as the total amount of energy creates a rather hostile environment. Who knows? Life can find a way,” Kane added.
“Exoplanet Volcanism”
In our solar system, Earth and Venus are volcanically active, as are some of Jupiter’s moons.
Planets outside our solar system are called exoplanets.
“There is still no direct observational evidence for volcanism on an exoplanet, but this planet is an especially likely candidate,” said University of Kansas astronomy professor Ian Crossfield, one of the authors of the study published in the journal Nature.
The planet is located in the Milky Way about 86 light years from our solar system in the direction of the constellation Crater. A light year is the distance light travels in one year, 9.5 trillion kilometers (5.9 trillion miles).
Researchers spotted the planet using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and the now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope, as well as some ground-based observatories.
“There are still a lot of unknowns in terms of volcanism and how long a planet can sustain outgassing processes,” Kane said, referring to the release of trapped gas that occurs in eruptions. “Only recently have we confirmed that Venus, Earth’s twin planet, is volcanically active.”
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