Since the dawn of Earth and the space age in the 1940s, humanity has been driven by an insatiable curiosity toward what lies beyond the stars. This fervor to discover and explore the cosmos has intensified in the following decades, leading scientists to delve deeper into the mystery of life on distant planets and their possible habitable conditions.
Space exploration has revealed that it is presumptuous to consider human beings the only inhabitants of the universe. This premise has been the driving force behind decades of research, theories and conjectures about the conditions necessary for life on other worlds. Among the essential criteria established by scientists is the presence of liquid water, an element considered fundamental for life as we know it. This assumption has guided the search for potentially habitable planets within the vast galaxy.
One of the most influential concepts in this field is that of the “Goldilocks Zone.” This term refers to the region around a star where conditions are “just right” for liquid water to exist on a planet: neither so close to the star that the water evaporates, nor so far away that the water evaporates. freeze. The precision of this parameter has allowed astronomers to identify numerous exoplanets that could have the characteristics necessary to support life.
Despite its success, the Goldilocks Zone model has recently been complemented by more advanced methodologies for assessing planetary habitability. A groundbreaking study, published in the Astrophysical Journal, has introduced a holistic approach that goes beyond the mere distance of a planet from its star. This new method integrates a wide spectrum of data, including observations of transits, characteristics of the parent star and detailed analysis of the energy flow emitted by the planet.
Super Earth could be a new world for us
This comprehensive approach allows for a more nuanced Earth-like assessment of the conditions that can support life, combining multiple factors that affect habitability beyond simple surface temperature. The results of this method are promising, and are already being used to rate the habitability of various planets compared to Earth.
On this new scale, Earth has earned a remarkable score of 0.829 in terms of conditions to sustain life. However, surprisingly, the exoplanet Kepler-442b has surpassed this score with a score of 0.836, suggesting that it could have an environment even more suitable for life than our own planet.
Kepler-442 b is a terrestrial super exoplanet orbiting a K-type star. Its mass is 2.36 Earths, it takes 112.3 days to complete one orbit of its star, and it is 0.409 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2015.
This discovery not only raises intriguing questions about the possibility of life on other planets such as Earth, but also reinforces the idea that life, in some form, could be more common in the universe than previously thought. These technological and methodological advances in planetary science are opening new frontiers in the search for habitable worlds, further boosting our exploration of the cosmos in search of answers to the eternal question of whether we are alone in the universe.
As we move forward, the space race is not only focused on reaching and exploring new planets, but also on better understanding the mechanisms that could make life beyond Earth possible. Each new discovery brings us one step closer to understanding our place in this vast and mysterious universe.
