This Star System Contains 5 Potentially Habitable Planets
A team of astronomers from the University of Montreal has discovered a new potentially habitable exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf star L 98-59, 35 light-years from Earth. This discovery means there are now five confirmed planets in this solar system's 'temperate' or 'habitable' zone, the region in a solar system where liquid water could exist on planets' surfaces.
The newly discovered planet, called 'L 98-59 f,' managed to evade previous observations because it doesn't pass between Earth and its star when orbiting, known as 'transiting.' Planets that transit their host stars are easier to spot, because the mini-eclipses they create when passing across the face of their star can be seen by telescopes.
The research announcing the planet's discovery—which is awaiting publication in The Astronomical Journal —located the planet through subtle variations in its host star's motion. Planets orbiting stars exert a gravitational pull on their host as they orbit, slightly moving their star's position. These movements can reveal the presence of planets even when they cannot be seen.
The revealing movements of L 98-59 were picked up by two instruments specifically designed for planet hunting: the high-precision HARPS spectrograph, installed on the European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescope, and the ESPRESSO rocky exoplanet spectrograph, which is part of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile. Comparison of the positions of the five exoplanets of L 98-59 with the first three planets of our solar system, according to the amount of solar energy they receive. Courtesy of O. Demangeon/European Southern Observatory
L 98-59 f stands out from the other planets in its solar system because it receives a similar amount of solar energy to Earth. According to the Montreal researchers, if it has a suitable atmosphere, it could be a temperate planet capable of retaining liquid water on its surface.
As well as allowing for the presence of liquid water, the habitable zone of a solar system is the region where, potentially, planetary conditions could allow for the development of life. Each star has its own habitable zone, determined by its type and the amount of energy it emits.
The L 98-59 star system is gradually gaining attention among astronomy enthusiasts. Each confirmed exoplanet is as intriguing as the rest, and all are in the habitable band. The planet closest to the star is half the mass of Venus but 85 percent the size of Earth. The second is almost 2.5 times more massive than our planet. The third may be 30 percent oceanic. Little is known about the fourth, except that it is also a 'super-Earth'—a term used to describe planets larger than our own but smaller than the ice giants of our solar system.
For now, there isn't an image of L 98-59 f. The next step will be to employ the advanced technology of the James Webb Space Telescope to try to capture a direct image of it.
'These results confirm L 98-59 as one of the most compelling nearby systems for exploring the diversity of rocky planets, and, eventually, searching for signs of life,' says a statement issued by the University of Montreal.
There is only one other known stellar system similar in complexity and number of exoplanets: TRAPPIST-1, which is 39 light-years from Earth. It is an ultracool dwarf star with at least seven rocky exoplanets, three of which are in the habitable region.
This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fast Company
4 hours ago
- Fast Company
Light pollution is making it harder for astronomers to study the universe
Outdoor lighting for buildings, roads and advertising can help people see in the dark of night, but many astronomers are growing increasingly concerned that these lights could be blinding us to the rest of the universe. Hot science in the cold, dark night While orbiting telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope or the James Webb Space Telescope give researchers a unique view of the cosmos—particularly because they can see light blocked by the Earth's atmosphere—ground-based telescopes also continue to drive cutting-edge discovery. Telescopes on the ground capture light with gigantic and precise focusing mirrors that can be 20 to 35 feet wide. Moving all astronomical observations to space to escape light pollution would not be possible, because space missions have a much greater cost and so many large ground-based telescopes are already in operation or under construction. Around the world, there are 17 ground-based telescopes with primary mirrors as big or bigger than Webb's 20-foot mirror, and three more under construction with mirrors planned to span 80 to 130 feet. The newest telescope starting its scientific mission right now, the Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile, has a mirror with a 28-foot diameter and a 3-gigapixel camera. One of its missions is to map the distribution of dark matter in the universe. To do that, it will collect a sample of 2.6 billion galaxies. The typical galaxy in that sample is 100 times fainter than the natural glow in the nighttime air in the Earth's atmosphere, so this Rubin Observatory program depends on near-total natural darkness. Any light scattered at night—road lighting, building illumination, billboards—would add glare and noise to the scene, greatly reducing the number of galaxies Rubin can reliably measure in the same time, or greatly increasing the total exposure time required to get the same result. The LED revolution Astronomers care specifically about artificial light in the blue-green range of the electromagnetic spectrum, as that used to be the darkest part of the night sky. A decade ago, the most common outdoor lighting was from sodium vapor discharge lamps. They produced an orange-pink glow, which meant that they put out very little blue and green light. Even observatories relatively close to growing urban areas had skies that were naturally dark in the blue and green part of the spectrum, enabling all kinds of new observations. Then came the solid-state LED lighting revolution. Those lights put out a broad rainbow of color with very high efficiency, meaning they produce lots of light per watt of electricity. The earliest versions of LEDs put out a large fraction of their energy in the blue and green, but advancing technology now gets the same efficiency with 'warmer' lights that have much less blue and green. Nevertheless, the formerly pristine darkness of the night sky now has much more light, particularly in the blue and green, from LEDs in cities and towns, lighting roads, public spaces, and advertising. The broad output of color from LEDs affects the whole spectrum, from ultraviolet through deep red. The U.S. Department of Energy commissioned a study in 2019 which predicted that the higher energy efficiency of LEDs would mean that the amount of power used for lights at night would go down, with the amount of light emitted staying roughly the same. But satellites looking down at the Earth reveal that just isn't the case. The amount of light is going steadily up, meaning that cities and businesses were willing to keep their electricity bills about the same as energy efficiency improved, and just get more light. Natural darkness in retreat As human activity spreads out over time, many of the remote areas that host observatories are becoming less remote. Light domes from large urban areas slightly brighten the dark sky at mountaintop observatories up to 200 miles away. When these urban areas are adjacent to an observatory, the addition to the skyglow is much stronger, making detection of the faintest galaxies and stars that much harder. When the Mount Wilson Observatory was constructed in the Angeles National Forest near Pasadena, California, in the early 1900s, it was a very dark site, considerably far from the 500,000 people living in Greater Los Angeles. Today, 18.6 million people live in the L.A. area, and urban sprawl has brought civilization much closer to Mount Wilson. When Kitt Peak National Observatory was first under construction in the late 1950s, it was far from metro Tucson, Arizona, with its population of 230,000. Today, that area houses 1 million people, and Kitt Peak faces much more light pollution. Even telescopes in darker, more secluded regions—like northern Chile or western Texas—experience light pollution from industrial activities like open-pit mining or oil and gas facilities. The case of the European Southern Observatory An interesting modern challenge is facing the European Southern Observatory, which operates four of the world's largest optical telescopes. Their site in northern Chile is very remote, and it is nominally covered by strict national regulations protecting the dark sky. AES Chile, an energy provider with strong U.S. investor backing, announced a plan in December 2024 for the development of a large industrial plant and transport hub close to the observatory. The plant would produce liquid hydrogen and ammonia for green energy. Even though formally compliant with the national lighting norm, the fully built operation could scatter enough artificial light into the night sky to turn the current observatory's pristine darkness into a state similar to some of the legacy observatories now near large urban areas. This light pollution could mean the facility won't have the same ability to detect and measure the faintest galaxies and stars. Light pollution doesn't only affect observatories. Today, around 80% of the world's population cannot see the Milky Way at night. Some Asian cities are so bright that the eyes of people walking outdoors cannot become visually dark-adapted. In 2009, the International Astronomical Union declared that there is a universal right to starlight. The dark night sky belongs to all people—its awe-inspiring beauty is something that you don't have to be an astronomer to appreciate. Richard Green is an astronomer emeritus at Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona. The early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is Friday, September 5, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Moon phase today: What the moon will look like on July 25, 2025
The moon is in a new phase tonight, but there's hardly any of it on display as we start the beginning of a new lunar cycle. The lunar cycle is a series of eight unique phases of the moon's visibility. The whole cycle takes about 29.5 days, according to NASA, and these different phases happen as the Sun lights up different parts of the moon whilst it orbits Earth. See what's happening tonight, July 25. What is today's moon phase? As of Friday, July 25, the moon phase is Waxing Crescent. There's still not much to see tonight, with only 1% of the surface visible to us on Earth (according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation). It's the first day of the lunar cycle, and with such limited visibility, there's nothing for you to spot on the moon's surface tonight, not even with binoculars or a telescope. When is the next full moon? The next full moon will be on August 9. The last full moon was on July 10. What are moon phases? According to NASA, moon phases are caused by the 29.5-day cycle of the moon's orbit, which changes the angles between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Moon phases are how the moon looks from Earth as it goes around us. We always see the same side of the moon, but how much of it is lit up by the Sun changes depending on where it is in its orbit. This is how we get full moons, half moons, and moons that appear completely invisible. There are eight main moon phases, and they follow a repeating cycle: New Moon - The moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye). Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere). First Quarter - Half of the moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-moon. Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it's not quite full yet. Full Moon - The whole face of the moon is illuminated and fully visible. Waning Gibbous - The moon starts losing light on the right side. Last Quarter (or Third Quarter) - Another half-moon, but now the left side is lit. Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Moon phase today: What the moon will look like on July 31, 2025
The moon is inching closer to being half lit, which means we're getting closer to a new moon phase. The lunar cycle is a series of eight unique phases of the moon's visibility. The whole cycle takes about 29.5 days, according to NASA, and these different phases happen as the Sun lights up different parts of the moon whilst it orbits Earth. So, what's happening tonight, July 31? What is today's moon phase? As of Thursday, July 31, the moon phase is Waxing Crescent. There's 41% of the moon's surface visible to us on Earth (according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation). It's day seven of the lunar cycle, and the last moon in July. As we say goodbye to another month, let's see what will be visible to us on the moon tonight. With the unaided eye, enjoy a glimpse of the Mare Serenitatis, the Tranquillitatis, and the Mare Fecunditatis, an impact basin also known as the "Sea of Fertility." With binoculars, you'll also get a glimpse of the Endymion Crater, the Mare Nectaris, and the Posidonius Crater, a lava-filled impact crater that's visible from the fifth to the 19th day of the lunar cycle. If you have a telescope, position it in the middle right, descending (middle left, ascending if in the Southern Hemisphere) to see the Rima Arladaeus, the Apollo 16, and the Rupes Altai, a circular cliff around 298 miles long. When is the next full moon? The next full moon will be on August 9. The last full moon was on July 10. What are moon phases? According to NASA, moon phases are caused by the 29.5-day cycle of the moon's orbit, which changes the angles between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Moon phases are how the moon looks from Earth as it goes around us. We always see the same side of the moon, but how much of it is lit up by the Sun changes depending on where it is in its orbit. This is how we get full moons, half moons, and moons that appear completely invisible. There are eight main moon phases, and they follow a repeating cycle: New Moon - The moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye). Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere). First Quarter - Half of the moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-moon. Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it's not quite full yet. Full Moon - The whole face of the moon is illuminated and fully visible. Waning Gibbous - The moon starts losing light on the right side. Last Quarter (or Third Quarter) - Another half-moon, but now the left side is lit. Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again. Solve the daily Crossword
