US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — Not so long ago, astronomers discovered several rocky planets that revolve around the nearest star to us. Cosmic bodies turned out to be more massive in comparison with the Earth, and there may be an atmosphere on them.
The low activity of the star is a guarantee that the planets do not receive lethal doses of energy, therefore, harm to living organisms, if they are there, is not done.
According to Sandra Jefferson, an astronomer from the University of Göttingen in Germany, the ideal star GJ 887 was discovered, which will allow a detailed study of the planets of this stellar system. The star is located almost 11 light years from us (the constellation Piscis Austrinus). The red dwarf is the brightest object that can be seen from Earth.
One of the planets is four times bigger than ours and makes a revolution around its luminary in 9 days. The weight of another planet is 7.6 times greater; it makes a revolution in 22 days. The objects are too close to the star, so they hardly have water. Scientists have received some signals that there are only three planets. All of them are rocky and can have an atmosphere, like on Earth.
Scientists are once again convinced that even the smallest stars have their own planets. The discovered system is close to the Solar, therefore, astronomers have a real chance to study in detail all the processes and determine exactly whether life is possible there. Many scientists agree that the star was not always calm, therefore, even the simplest organisms on the planets may not be.
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