300 light years from the solar system, astronomers discovered the exoplanet Kepler-1649c, which is extremely similar to the Earth in size and surface temperature. The discovery was almost missed: it was “overlooked” by a computer algorithm that analyzed data from the Kepler space observatory, but manual verification saved the situation. Description of the planet published a scientific journal Astrophysical Journal Letterswrites briefly about it Gizmodo.
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“Speaking of size and temperature, this is the most Earth-like planet that the Kepler telescope has ever found,” noted study co-author, Jeff Coughlin of SETI Institute (USA).
The found planet revolves around the red dwarf Kepler-1649. The data that astronomers now have allows us to say that it is very similar to Earth. First, in size: its diameter is only 1.06 times larger than the earth. The second indicator that gives astronomers such a conclusion is equilibrium temperature at –39 ° C, it is most close to the equilibrium temperature of the Earth, 5 ° C.
Equilibrium scientists call the theoretical temperature that would be on the surface of the planet if it was a completely black body and would receive heat only from its luminary. So far, scientists have no other data on Kepler-1649c – in particular, the presence of an atmosphere on it or the reflectivity of its surface, so this estimate is the most accurate in the current conditions.
In other parameters, the new exoplanet resembles the Earth much less – its star, Kepler-1649, is four times smaller than the Sun, the year on Kepler-1649c is 19.5 Earth days, and there is probably no life on it. Nevertheless, this is the most similar to our planet celestial body – previously, scientists found only planets that resembled the Earth either only in size or only in temperature.
Algorithm Failure
However, such a unique discovery might not have happened. The fact is that in order to “look through” the enormous amount of data that the Kepler space observatory has collected over 9 years of its work, scientists use specially created computer algorithms. A few years ago, Robovetter algorithm analyzed the images from Kepler-1649c, but he did not see it in the data of this planet.
Only later it was discovered by a special team of scientists who checked the data “rejected” by the algorithm. “If we hadn’t checked the operation of the algorithm manually, we would have lost it (planet Kepler-1649c, – approx. TASS)“, – told study leader Andrew Vanderburg.
Despite the outstanding result, astronomers from around the world continue to study data from Kepler and other similar observatories in the hope of finding exoplanets even more similar to Earth, possibly even with traces of life.
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