Alien life on nearby ‘super Earth’ much likelier than we thought, study claims
A giant “super Earth” hidden in one of the nearest star systems to our planet may be more suitable for support extraterrestrial life As scientists initially thought, a new study suggests. Researchers say the alien world’s proximity to Earth and the nature of its home star make it a prime candidate for follow-up observations.
exoplanetwas dubbed gj 3378bWas discovered in 2024 And orbits a red dwarf star about 25 light years away from our planet. The alien world orbits its star every 21.5 days at about 10 times the distance Earth orbits. Sunwhich would make it completely inhumane here Solar system. But because the red dwarf emits about 90% less radiation than the Sun, GJ 3378b is smack dab in the middle of this star system.habitable area,” where liquid water may exist on the exoplanet’s surface.
Researchers initially thought that GJ 3378b was about five times more massive than Earth. If the planet is rocky like ours, it would qualify as a “super Earth” – which is often considered Best candidate to sustain extraterrestrial life. However, it was difficult to tell whether this world had any solid surface or was actually a miniature gas giant. And even if it were rocky, its sheer size would probably mean that its atmospheric pressure would be crushing, making it less likely to harbor life.
But a new study published June 30 The Astrophysical JournalThe researchers recalculated the exoplanet’s size using the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder instrument attached to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory in Texas. The instrument measures microscopic fluctuations caused by the gravitational pull of planets orbiting the host star, and can be used to calculate the planet’s mass and trajectory.
This revealed that GJ 3378b is actually only 2.3 times more massive than Earth, which almost guarantees that it is a rocky world and means it may have a pressurized atmosphere similar to ours, increasing the possibility that extraterrestrial lifeforms could thrive there.
The new limited size of GJ 3378b makes it more likely that the exoplanet’s atmosphere is similar to Earth’s. But more research is needed to confirm whether it has an atmosphere.
(Image credit: NASA/Eyes on Exoplanet Viewer)
While researchers have Many other exoplanets found While it may contain life, the fact that GJ 3378b is so close to us makes it particularly interesting, as it will be easy to confirm whether it is indeed habitable or not.
“It’s exciting,” study first author paul robertsonAn astronomer at the University of California, Irvine said in a statement. “25 light-years seems a long way, but galaxy “It’s about 100,000 light-years wide, so in that sense it’s our next door neighbor.”
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Before we go too far, there is still no evidence that GJ 3378b has an atmosphere or liquid water. Its proximity to its home star may mean that whatever atmosphere it had was stripped away by stellar winds, as is likely solar radiation. Mars was stripped of its atmosphere and ancient oceans.
Therefore, more observation is needed. But if an atmosphere is detected, GJ 3378b would likely jump to the forefront of the line of exoplanets that researchers want to study further.
“If a planet has a suitable atmosphere in the habitable zone, we can justify further research looking for biosignatures, liquid water or other signs of life,” Gogod James, a UC Irvine graduate student and co-author of the study, said in the statement.
The fact that GJ 3378b orbits a red dwarf makes it more attractive for future study as it is the most common star type in the galaxy, so experts are keen to learn more about these stars’ planetary systems and their ability to harbor life.
“About 70% of the stars in our galaxy are red dwarfs, so they represent the standard,” said the study’s co-author. Michael EndelAn astronomer at McDonald Observatory and the University of Texas at Austin said another statement. “It’s really important that we understand the planet populations around these stars.”
Robertson, P., Endle, M., Cochran, WD, Stephenson, G., Mahadevan, S., Canas, CI, James, G., Arendtsz, R., Terrien, RC, Bender, CF, Diddams, SA, Giovinazzi, MR, Gupta, AF, Halverson, S., Kanodia, S., Krolikowski, DM, Logsdon, SE, Ninan, JP, Rogers, CJ,. . . Schwab, C. (2026). A revised mass and period for the habitable zone super-Earth GJ 3378 b: A planet straddling the cosmic coastline. The Astrophysical Journal, 1005(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae732b
