The question is: could it be the next planetary home for humanity? Experts don’t have the answer to that yet. However, they have pointed out some interesting similarities between the newly-discovered exoplanet and our planet. The celestial body, named TOI-1231b, is located 90 light years from Earth, and its atmosphere suggests that it may bear some resemblance to our own:
Most notably, TOI-1231b has a similar temperature to Earth, at around 57 degrees Celsius, making it one of the coolest small exoplanets discovered by NASA so far. CNN reports that scientists think studying the planet could help them understand how common it is for Earth-like atmospheres to form, and could also reveal clues as to the likelihood of similar planets capable of creating water clouds being able to host life.
Diana Dragomir, an assistant professor in the University of New Mexico’s department of physics and astronomy and co-author of a new study into the planet, said:
Even though TOI 1231 b is eight times closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun, its temperature is similar to that of Earth, thanks to its cooler and less bright host star.
However, the planet itself is actually larger than earth and a little bit smaller than Neptune – we could call it a sub-Neptune.
Scientists are especially excited by the possibility of being able to analyse TOI-1231b’s atmosphere, as the majority of similar planets are inaccessible and clouded by interstellar gas. However, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory believe they may be able to find evidence of hydrogen and helium atoms escaping this newly-discovered planet, which they say are typically ‘almost impossible to detect’.
Image credit: NASA JPL
'Similar temperature to Earth, at 57 degrees'.I live near the east coast of the north island of New Zealand, top summer temperatures are 30 or maybe 32.My brother lives in Cairns, North Queensland, they get 44 sometimes.50 degrees can kill you, my gas powered water heater has a set maximum of 50 degrees, so that no one gets scalded.57 degrees is very hot to breathe in.
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they've spent trillions of dollars on space, and all they seem to find is alien boogers and dust - we will never live on any other planet other than earth. Humans are perfectly contoured to the very specific conditions of Earth. We will never find another planet that has the specific conditions - in every category - that we need. Space is dark matter, dark energy, and normal matter. If there's a planet in the universe that has the perfect conditions, it's so far away we'll never be able to get there. That's if it even exists at all. People will claim it exists because of the sheer size of the universe. But that's like saying "this mall is huge, at least 1 girl in this mall wants to date me". Nah, nope. Nuh uh.
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