A newly discovered planet, GJ 251 c, may offer humanity its best chance yet to detect alien life. Lying less than 20 light years away, the world is classified as a “super-Earth” – a rocky planet similar to our own but significantly larger. Researchers suggest that such planets could be prime candidates for discovering extraterrestrial life.
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GJ 251 c lies within the so-called “Goldilocks Zone”, a distance from its star where conditions might allow liquid water to exist on its surface. Scientists identified it using the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder, a survey specifically designed to locate planets in this life-friendly region.
The discovery relied on more than 20 years of astronomical data, collected from multiple telescopes. Researchers first analysed a known planet in the system, GJ 251 b, but further investigation revealed the gravitational “wobble” of a much larger, previously undetected planet – later confirmed as GJ 251 c.
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While direct observation of the planet is not yet possible, astronomers hope upcoming telescopes will allow them to study it in detail. Suvrath Mahadevan of Penn State, co-author of the study, said: “We made an exciting discovery, but there’s still much more to learn about this planet.” The findings are detailed in a new paper in The Astronomical Journal.
