Scientists discover new ‘Super-Earth’… and it could be home to alien life

Scientists have discovered a new planet deemed a “Super-Earth”, which could be home to alien life.

The planet, known as HD 20794d, orbits in the habitable zone of a star similar to the sun, and is 20 light years away from our solar system – making it a close neighbour in a galaxy that spans 105,000 light years across.

This discovery has excited astronomers, as they spent two decades analysing observations to confirm its existence.

Researchers have called the planet “among the closest Earth-analogues we know about” out of more than 5,800 identified exoplanets (those in orbit around stars beyond our own).

University of Oxford researchers have said the location of HD 20794d relative to its star puts it in a “goldilocks zone” of habitability. This means it is “at the right distance from its star to sustain liquid water on its surface — a key ingredient for life as we know it.”

The planet is considered a super-Earth because it measures about six times the mass of our own planet, but is not large enough to be a gaseous mass like Jupiter or Saturn.

Researchers believe the planet to be rocky, with a solid surface on which water could collect in oceans, lakes and rivers.

Its host star is called HD 20794, or 82 Eridani, which sits in the Eridanus constellation and is bright enough to be seen by a human’s naked eye. It is smaller and less bright than the sun, but is nevertheless classed as a “solar-type star”.

MORE LIKE THIS:

• Scientists left shocked as they finally identify source of mysterious space signals
• Asteroid with potential of smashing into Earth spotted by scientists – before object revealed to be something very different
• Nasa reveals new plan to bring soil samples from Mars back to Earth

Apart from HD 20794d, there are no other giant planets in its system, although there are three smaller ones. Two are too close to the star to host liquid and one is too far away.

Dr Michael Cretignier, an Oxford Scientist who first spotted signs of the planet in 2022 said the discovery could play a key role in future missions that will characterise the atmospheres of exoplanets to search for signs of life.

He said: “We worked on data analysis for years, gradually analysing and eliminating all possible sources of contamination.”

The research – which will be published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal – looked at over 20 years of data recorded by the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher in Chile.

“For me, it was naturally a huge joy when we could confirm the planet’s existence,” Cretignier said.

“Excitingly, its proximity with us [at] only 20 light years means there is hope for future space missions to obtain an image of it.”

The orbit of the planet is elliptical, meaning that at one point in the process it moves close to the inner, hotter edge of the star’s habitable zone.

Scientists have said they need to learn more about the likelihood of maintaining habitable conditions in an eccentric orbit.

The Oxford researcher said: “While my job mainly consists of finding these unknown worlds, I’m now very enthusiastic to hear what other scientists can tell us about this newly discovered planet, particularly since it is among the closest Earth-analogues we know about and given its peculiar orbit.”

At the moment, no human-made space space spacecraft has made it as far as one light day away from Earth, let alone a light year, however Voyager 1, launched in 1977, is the most distant craft.

In January 2027 it is expected that Voyager 1 will reach the distance of one light day from Earth, which means it would take another 18,000 years for it to travel a full light year.

However, there are hopes that smaller crafts can in future be pushed at up to 20 per cent of the speed of light using laser propulsion.