We’ve Got 13 Years To Find ‘Another Earth’ In The Closest Star System To Us And This Is What It Will Look Like Say Scientists
A new paper has modelled what a habitable planet may look like in the Alpha Centauri star system, … [+]
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Pretty soon we may know of a few distant alien rocky planets that have breathable, Earth-like atmospheres. That will be the work of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is now getting ready to make its first observations. By the end of the decade we will have photos of those planets thanks to the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) now being built in Chile.
What will these planets look like?
A new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal has figured out what a habitable planet may look like in the Alpha Centauri star system, the closest start system to us at just 4.4 light-years.
Unlike the Solar System it contains three stars. Alpha Centauri (the third-brightest star in our night sky, most easily seen from the southern hemisphere) is a double star comprising Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B. They orbit each other every 80 years. Much more distant is Alpha Centauri C, also called Proxima Centauri.
The closest star to the Solar System, Proxima Centauri takes half a million years to orbit the double star. More importantly, it has three confirmed planets.
Are there habitable rocky exoplanets in the Alpha Centauri star system?
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However, this paper focuses on a hypothetical planet around Alpha Centauri A or B, something that is yet to be confirmed (though suspected). These stars are 1.5 to two billion years older than the Sun, so we’re likely talking about finding an “old Earth 2.0.”
With their modelling based on the spectroscopically measured chemical compositions of Alpha Centauri A and B the scientists were able to project possible compositions of a hypothetical planet they call “α-Cen-Earth.” It’s a captivating image:
- It’s likely to be geochemically similar to our Earth.
- It would be enriched by graphite and diamond.
- The capacity for water storage in its rocky interior would be about the same as Earth.
Alpha and Beta Centauri (the pointers) seen from the beach in Miramar, Argentina. Alpha is the star … [+]
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However, there would likely also be some big differences between Earth and α-Cen-Earth:
- A slightly larger iron core.
- Less geologically active with a possible lack of plate tectonics.
- Its early atmosphere could have been dominated by carbon dioxide, methane and water—similar to that of Earth between four and 2.5 billion years ago.
That Archean Era on Earth was when the first life emerged on our planet.
Can anyone can find this hypothetical planet? If they can, it’s going to be soon. From 2022 through 2035 Alpha Centauri A and B are visibly separated enough for telescopes to look for planets.
With a window of opportunity coinciding with the “first light” of a new generation of powerful space and ground-based giant telescopes, Earth-like rocky planets in the closest star system to us could soon be within the grasp of astronomers.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
