Researchers using global robotic telescopes have made a groundbreaking discovery – the detection of an Earth-sized planet, SPECULOOS-3 b, orbiting an ultra-cool red dwarf within the Milky Way galaxy. This planet, despite being tidally locked and possibly lacking an atmosphere due to intense radiation, offers valuable insights into long-lived red dwarfs. These stars, which make up more than 70% of the stars in our galaxy, have a lifespan of over 100 billion years, providing a potentially hospitable environment for life to develop.
The discovery of SPECULOOS-3 b, located just 55 light-years away from Earth, offers intriguing details. It is about the same size as Earth and completes one orbit around its star in just 17 hours, suggesting a perpetually lighted dayside and a perpetually dark nightside. The planet’s star, thousands of degrees cooler than the Sun, bombards the planet with radiation, hinting at the absence of an atmosphere.
SPECULOOS-3 b presents an exciting opportunity for further observation by the James Webb Space Telescope, as scientists aim to explore the potential habitability of this Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting a unique ultra-cool red dwarf star.
