Many believe that most exoplanets are pretty rocky. Credit: Shutterstock
The Teagarden Stars
Teagarden Star b -Teagarden Star b was discovered in 2019 and is a kind of rocky exoplanet known as super-Earth. This planet orbits its star in 4.9 Earth day and weighs 1.05 times more than our world. This star system is just 12.5 light-years away from the Earth.
Credit: https://www.newscientist.com/
Teagarden Star c – It was discovered in 2019 alongside Teagarden Star b and is also possibly a rocky super-Earth. Teagarden Star c has an orbital time of 11.4 Earth days as well as a mass of 1.11 times the Earth. This star system is just 12.5 light-years away from the Earth.
There are only hints of some planets being habitable. Credit: Shutterstock
Unconfirmed Exoplanets
K2-72 e was discovered in 2016 and orbited the K2072 star of the Aquarius constellation. It is an M-Warm Terran, rocky exoplanet only 217 light-years away from the Earth. Proxima Centauri b – It orbits the closest stellar neighbor of the Earth, Proxima Centauri, which is 4.22 light-years away. Proxima Centauri b is 1.27 heavier than the Earth and takes 11.2 Earth days to orbit its star. The scientists announced Proxima Centauri b in 2016.
Credit: Wikipedia
Wolf 1061 c – This planet takes only 17.9 Earth days to orbit its M-type star, which lies 14 light-years away from the Earth. It has a significant mass, almost 3.41 times the Earth’s. Tau Ceti f – It is a super-Earth exoplanet that orbits a G-type star every 1.7 Earth years. The star is visible from the Earth and sits only 12 light-years away. It has a mass of almost 3.93 times the Earth’s. However, scientists have questioned Tau Ceti f’s and its neighbor’s habitable status. Then, a 2015 study claimed that this label was generous as the exoplanets did not enter habitable zone until under a billion years and cosmically recently.
Exoplanets are made from a wide range of materials and vary in size. Credit: Shutterstock
TRAPPIST Exoplanets
TRAPPIST – 1 d – Scientists discovered Trappist – 1 way back in 1999. But it was only in 2016 that they discovered its surrounding exoplanets. This star system is only 40 light-years away from the Earth. Some data suggest that this planet may possess a ring of water around its terminator or the line, which demarcates the chilly night side and the warm day side of the planet. TRAPPIST – 1 f – Revolving around TRAPPIST – 1, this planet takes 9.4 Earth days to do so and weighs .68 times of the Earth.
Credit: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/
TRAPPIST – 1 e – It is the fourth one out of the TRAPPIST – 1 exoplanets as well as the second one within the habitable zone. In 2018, a paper was published, which suggests that this planet may have an iron core like the Earth and, thus, may possess a protective magnetosphere. TRAPPIST – 1 g – It is the largest TRAPPIST – 1 exoplanet, as well as the sixth from TRAPPIST – 1. It is thought to possess an atmosphere that is not rich in hydrogen. That means that it has evolved over a period of millions of years. Also, this means that it may be a rocky body, just like its TRAPPIST – 1 neighbors.
The GJ system is pretty far away but looks promising. Credit: Shutterstock
The GJs
GJ 667C c- This rocky world is amongst the six exoplanets revolving around GJ 667C and also the only one that lies in the habitable zone. It completes the orbit in 28.1 Earth days and is 3.8 times heavier than the Earth. It is 22 light-years away from us and debuted in 2011. GJ 667C e – This planet takes 62 Earth days to circle its star, as well as it is 2.7 Earth’s mass. It is one of the three worlds that orbit the star GJ 667C. Because this star is located 22 light-years away from the Earth, it is not visible from the Earth. GJ 667C f – This planet also has 2.7 times the Earth’s mass but completes its orbit around GJ 667C in 39 Earth days.
Credit: Wikipedia
GJ 1061 c – It is amongst the three exoplanets that orbit the red dwarf star Gliese 1061. This star lies almost 12-light years away from our planet and is the twentieth nearest star to the Earth. GJ 1061 c takes 6.7 Earth days to complete one orbit. GJ 1061 d – GJ 1061 d orbits the star Gliese 1061, which can be detected in the Horologium constellation. It takes 12.4 Earth days for this planet to circle its star. GJ 3323 b – It takes 5.4 days for this super-Earth to complete one orbit around its M-type star. GJ 3323 b has a mass 2.02 times the Earth’s and is nearly 12 light-years from the Earth.
Here is an artist’s depiction of Kepler-62. Shutterstock.
The Kelpers
Kepler – 186 f – It was the first exoplanet of the size of the Earth found in a habitable zone and had an orbit of one hundred and thirty Earth days and is nearly 10% larger than the Earth. It seems like Kepler – 186 f would be a good candidate to have liquid water, and probably life. However, it is 490 light-years away from the Earth, in the Cygnus constellation.
Credit: NASA
Kepler-62 f – This planet circles around Kepler-62, nearly 1,200 light-years away from the Earth. As per recent research, astronomers believe that this exoplanet may be water-world, similar to the Earth. It is almost 1.4 times bigger than the Earth. Kepler-1229 b – It orbits a K-type star. However, this super-Earth takes almost 86.8 days to complete an orbit around an orange dwarf, Kepler- 1229 that is 770 light-years away from the Earth.
The universe is so vast, who knows what we’ll find next? Credit: Shutterstock
What Else is Out There?
Life on other planets than the Earth has fascinated humans for thousands of years. There are endless questions regarding the same, which need years of research and practice. But one thing is imperative to support life on any planet – water. Other factors that determine whether a world can support growth are its size, orbiting period, distance from its star, and the star type it is revolving around.
The recent discovery of TOI 770 d and the usage of advanced technologies may help us know more about the unknown worlds out there. Whatever we are going to discover is definitely going to be intriguing and unexpected.
