(ORDO NEWS) — In June 2019, an Earth-like exoplanet was discovered in the habitable zone of Teegarden’s Star, which was named Star Teegarden b or simply Teegarden b.
In July 2019, a team of over 150 scientists led by Matthias Seechmeister published a peer-reviewed paper in the scientific journal Astronomy & Astrophysics confirming the existence of Teegarden b and another exoplanet (Teegarden c) orbiting Teegarden’s Star.
Teegarden’s Star is an M-type red dwarf in the constellation Aries, about 12.59 light-years from Earth, which is very small by cosmic standards.
The mass of this star is only 9% of the mass of the Sun, and its temperature approaches 2623 degrees Celsius against 5505 degrees Celsius solar temperature.
Teegarden’s Star is about 12.6 billion years old, compared to the Sun’s 4.6 billion years.
It is noteworthy that Teegarden’s Star is an atypical red dwarf, since the star is very calm, unlike similar objects in the Universe.
Therefore, Teegarden b is not subject to “aggressive attacks” (powerful outbursts) from the parent star.
What is special about the exoplanet Teegarden b?
- Firstly, it is an Earth-like exoplanet (mass 0.05% more than the mass of the Earth), which is relatively close, so future observations of it will be much easier than for similar objects at distances measured in hundreds of light years.
- Secondly, Teegarden b is located in the habitable zone of its star, which means that conditions reign on the surface that allow the presence of liquid water. Indirect data indicate the presence of the World Ocean.
- Thirdly, if Teegarden b has an atmosphere, then the calm parent star certainly did not blow it away.
- Fourth, a year on Teegarden b lasts only 4.91 days, which means, given the size and temperature of the star, the exoplanet receives more heat than the Earth from the Sun. The average temperature on the surface of Teegarden b is 28 degrees Celsius versus 15 degrees on Earth. This suggests that Teegarden b has more comfortable conditions for the emergence of complex life forms, since the increased temperature guarantees an accelerated flow of chemical reactions.
It was said above that Teegarden’s Star is much older than the Sun, which means that Teegarden b is most likely much older than the Earth.
It turns out that Teegarden b had more time to carry out biochemical reactions that could lead to the emergence of life.
Hypothetical evolution, lasting longer than on Earth, could lead to the emergence of intelligent beings.
To date, Teegarden b has the highest Earth similarity index of 0.95 out of a possible 1.00. Thus, Teegarden b is 95% similar to Earth. A very intriguing place.
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