Scientists Discover HD 137010 b
A potentially Earth-like planet HD 137010 b was discovered just 150 light-years away, being called the most promising 'Earth twin' in recent years. NASA spotlighted the discovery as a major breakthrough in the search for habitable worlds.
The initial signal for HD 137010 b was found in archival data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope's K2 mission from 2017. The tell-tale 10-hour dip in the star's light was first flagged by citizen scientists in the Planet Hunters project, a task that automated algorithms had initially missed. Astrophysicist Alexander Venner, who had participated in the citizen science project as a high school student, later re-examined the data during his Ph.D. research to help identify the candidate. This planet is notable for being detected via a single transit event, making its confirmation as a genuine exoplanet dependent on observing a second pass in front of its star. The planet orbits HD 137010, a K-type dwarf star that is about 70% of the Sun's mass and roughly 1,000 Kelvin cooler. This makes the star dimmer, and as a result, HD 137010 b receives only about 29% of the solar energy that Earth does. With a radius just 1.06 times that of Earth and a year lasting approximately 355 days, its physical characteristics are strikingly similar to our own planet. However, due to its cooler star, the estimated equilibrium temperature is a frigid -68°C (-90°F), potentially making it colder than Mars. This world orbits at the outer edge of its star's habitable zone, the region where liquid water could potentially exist. Scientists suggest there's a 40% chance it lies in the "conservative" habitable zone, but this would likely require a thick atmosphere rich in greenhouse gases to maintain liquid water on its surface.
