gliese 581 g
A team working out of Geneva say they have discovered a planet which may be capable of supporting life. [1]
Artist’s impression of Earthlike planet orbiting Gliese 581. [2]
), also known as Wolf 562 c and HIP 74995 c, is a “super-earth ” or large terrestrial extrasolar planet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581. [3]
An artist’s impression of Gliese 581 d and speculative moons. [4]
The researchers will soon present their discovery in the professional journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. [1]
Assuming the planet’s mass is close to the lower limit determined by radial velocity measurements (the true mass is unknown), it would be the smallest known extrasolar planet around a main sequence star to date. [3]
) or Gl 581 d is an extrasolar planet orbiting the star Gliese 581 approximately 20 light-years away in the constellation of Libra. [4]
A typical radius for an M0 star of Gliese 581’s age and metallicity is 0.00128 AU, against the sun’s 0.00465 AU. [3]
Excitement has again spiked with the discovery of Gliese 581 g, believed to be the most “Earth-like” planet discovered to date, in September 2010. [5]
In October 2008, members of the networking website Bebo beamed A Message From Earth, a high-power transmission at Gliese 581, using the RT-70 radio telescope belonging to the National Space Agency of Ukraine. [4]
The planet is astronomically close, at 20.5 light years (194 trillion km or 120 trillion miles) from Earth in the direction of the constellation of Libra. [6]
A nearby red dwarf in the constellation of Libra around which have been found four extrasolar planets, including one (Gliese 581e) that is the lightest discovered to date (only about 1.9 times the mass of Earth) and another (Gliese 581d) that is the only low-mass planet known to orbit within its star’s habitable zone and which might therefore support permanent liquid water on its surface. [2]
There are even indications that Gliese 581 — one of the 100 stars closest to Earth, at a distance of only 20.5 light years — has a system of at least three planets. [1]
The star system first gained attention after Gliese 581 c, the first low mass extrasolar planet found to be near its star’s habitable zone, was discovered in April 2007. [...] Its estimated mass is about a third of that of the Sun, and it is the 87th closest known star system to the Sun. [5]
Sources:
[1] The Search for a Habitable Planet: Researchers May Have Found …
[2] Gliese 581
[3] Gliese 581 c - Wikinfo
[4] Gliese 581 d - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[5] Gliese 581 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[6] John G Prineas and Gliese 581 c