Gliese 12b orbits a red dwarf 40 light years again and is reportedly the most promising candidate yet among worlds deduced to be potentially-habitable and Earthlike.
"We've found the nearest, transiting, temperate, Earth-size world located to date," said Masayuki Kuzuhara, a project assistant professor at the Astrobiology Center in Tokyo and co-leader of one of the research tea ms with Akihiko Fukui, a project assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, in a statement. Once temperate Earth-size planets have been identified, scientists can then analyze them to determine which elements are contained in their atmospheres and, crucially, whether water is present to sustain life.
Next step is to analyze data to determine if there is atmospheric water. Then weigh anchor, obviously!
"It's not reachable, it's 12 parsecs away," said Palethorpe, adding that it would take about 225,000 years to reach Gliese 12b with the fastest spacecraft that currently exist.
I know a habitable planet worth living on. You're living on it right now.
