Chances of finding another Earth-like planet enlarges

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Chances of finding another Earth-like planet enlarges
Chances of finding another Earth-like planet enlarges

New Delhi : The scientists have notified of locating an exoplanet-star pair which resembles our Earth-Sun system.

The star Kepler-160 and the planet KOI-456 are very much in resemblance to the Sun and Earth, more than any other planet discovery till date, raising the chances of finding life on them.

A team of scientists led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Gottingen, Germany have located the star pair that is 3,000-light years away from us.

The Kepler-160 has at least three planets in its orbit, according to the research published in the Astronomy and Astrophysics.

“We conclude that Kepler-160 has at least three planets, one of which is the non-transiting planet Kepler-160 d. We also find the super-Earth-sized transiting planet candidate KOI-456.04 in the habitable zone of this system, which could be the fourth planet,” the report said.

KOI-456.04 is found to be orbiting Kepler-160 at a distance equal to our Sun and Earth. It takes approximately 378 days to complete one orbit, according to the report.

The current discovery of exoplanets is different from previous researches because it has a Sun like hot star.

Most of the exoplanets previously discovered are hosted by red dwarf stars emitting infrared radiation rather than as visible light. Kepler 160’s composition shows that it is more similar to the sun reducing the chances of infrared radiation making it more potentially habitable. However, more research is to be done.

More clarity on this will be attained after the launch of more powerful NASA's Webb Space Telescope. “The full picture of habitability, however, involves a look at the qualities of the star too,” said MPS scientist and lead author of the new study Dr Rene Heller in an official statement.