Another "super-Earth" has been discovered! Only 36.5 light-years away, the only worry is the early life

According to a new study published in the Journal of the Japanese Astronomical Society [1], with the Pleiades Telescope (8.2m in diameter) in Hawaii, astronomers have discovered a new "super-Earth", ROS 508 b, which is only 36.5 light-years away from our solar system. It is only 36.5 light years away from our solar system.

Our galaxy is made up of hundreds of billions of stars, nebulae, and other celestial bodies. The Sun is just an ordinary star. As well as the Earth's seven other known planets revolve around the Sun, other exoplanets revolve around stars outside our solar system.

More than 5050 exoplanets have been discovered. The nearest exoplanet is located in the Proxima system, 4.2 light years away, with three known planets. The farthest known exoplanet is more than 20,000 light-years away.

Astronomers predict that there are more than 100 billion planets in our galaxy. With so many planets, the most curious question arises: Is there life on those planets? Do extraterrestrial civilizations exist?

Of the eight planets in our solar system, only Earth has life, the other planets are desolate. One of the most remarkable features of the Earth is the large amount of liquid water that covers its surface, which is the source of life.

Therefore, astronomers will pay more attention to rocky planets like Earth when searching for extraterrestrial life. In addition, these planets should be at an appropriate distance from the host star, in the habitable zone, and receive neither too much nor too little heat from the star so that water can be present on the surface in liquid form. Such exoplanets are considered to be potentially habitable planets.

So far, astronomers have shortlisted about 70 potentially habitable exoplanets. This newly discovered Ross 508 b could also be an alien world with life. Rose 508 b's host star, Rose 508, is a different kind of red dwarf than the Sun.

Ross 508 is only one-fifth the size of the Sun. Because of its smaller mass and slower fusion reaction rate, it has a lower temperature and a redder spectral color. Around such stars, planets need to be close enough to the parent star to get enough heat to maintain liquid water on the surface.

Lo 508 b is only 0.05366 astronomical units or 8 million kilometers from its host star. It orbits the host star in less than 11 days a week. This allows Rose 508 b to receive 40% more stellar radiation than Earth, and it is located near the inner edge of the star system's habitable zone.

The mass of Rose 508 b is estimated to be four times that of Earth, which means that it is a "super-Earth". If the planet's density is equal to Earth's, then its radius is estimated to be 1.6 times that of Earth, and its surface area is 2.5 times that of Earth.

According to the available observations, Rose 508 b could be a habitable "super-Earth". But it is also possible that Rose 508 b, like Venus and Mars in the solar system, is at the edge of the habitable zone, but without life. In the future, the atmosphere of Roth 508 b could be observed by the powerful Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to analyze whether it is habitable.

However, even if life exists on Roth 508 b, it is unlikely that current humans will be able to visit this alien world, let alone colonize it interstellar. On the cosmic scale, 36.5 light years is close at hand. But for humans, it is an unimaginable distance.

Voyager 1 is one of five interstellar probes currently capable of flying out of the solar system. It flew the farthest and fastest, at 16.9 km/s. After 45 years of flight, Voyager 1 has flown 23.2 billion kilometers, equivalent to 21.5 light hours, less than a day, or 0.002454 light years.

At this speed, it will take up to 650,000 years to fly to Ross 508 b. Even if the 20% speed of light spacecraft is envisioned in the "Breakthrough Starshot" project, it will take more than 180 years to fly to Ross 508 b. Everyone here can't wait for that day.

On the other hand, if there is life on Rose 508 b, that could be a concern. Red dwarfs live much longer than the Sun. If Rose 508 has been around for a long time, and Rose 508 b has had enough time to evolve life earlier and give birth to intelligent species, then there could be a higher level of civilization there than humans.

If that's the case, then it's not how we feel about colonizing Rose 508 b, but how we worry about an alien civilization there discovering Earth. Once an alien civilization can come to Earth, then the difference in technological level would be devastating. Because of this, the famous cosmologist Stephen Hawking warned several times during his lifetime that humans should not actively contact alien civilizations to prevent the Earth from being invaded.

However, astronomers have not stopped looking for extraterrestrial life and civilizations. Astronomers intend to use radio telescopes again to transmit information about humans and Earth to distant star systems in an attempt to contact extraterrestrial civilizations.

Previously, astronomers have received mysterious radio signals from the direction of Proxima, and it is unclear whether this is the signal of an alien civilization. Wu Xiangping, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that humans are not alone in the universe and that aliens exist.

A previous study suggests that there may be about four hostile alien civilizations lurking in the galaxy. If they find Earth, they will undoubtedly invade it. Although this is all hypothetical - after all, the universe seems pretty quiet right now and there are no known alien civilizations that could contact us - it's always right to be careful until human civilization has advanced to a higher level.