A ‘Super Earth’ has been discovered orbiting the nearby single star to the Sun. Recently, scientists revealed the Super-Earth and this might throw light on our planet’s nearest planetary neighbours. According to the researchers, this new planet is larger than the Earth but it is smaller than Neptune. Also, any water on its surface has been locked in ice. This frozen ‘Super Earth’ is the second closest exoplanet which is familiar to science. Astronomers studied Barnard’s star well. It is a red dwarf just six light years away from the Sun, this was when they found out about the presence of this frozen dim lit world. It is expectedly at least 3.2 times heavier than Earth.
For now, the planet is called Barnard star b, it is the second nearest planet to the Earth outside our solar system. It orbits its host star every 233 days. Even though the planet is very close to its parent star, it receives less than 2 per cent of the energy that our planet receives from the Sun. The experts estimate that the surface temperature of the planet is around -170 degrees Celcius which is -274 Fahrenheit. The temperature of Barnard star b is far too cold to support any life on that.
There is no presence of liquid water on the planet, according to experts. If there is any form of water on the planet it might be in the form of either ice or gas. As Barnard star is a red dwarf, it is a small and cooling star which might be about twice old as the Sun. The star produces so little light which makes it hard recognize any other bodies in its orbit. Though the detection of Barnard Star b was not easy for the researchers. The team analysed massive amounts of data, both archival as well as newly gathered, before finally digging up Barnard’s Star b. The planet lies around the ‘snow line’ of the system, where water can condense into solid ice.
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