Super-Earth Found Near the Habitable Zone of Red Dwarf

The green region represents the habitable zone where liquid water can exist on the planetary surface. The planetary orbit is shown as a blue line. Ross 508 b skims the inner edge of the habitable zone , possibly crossing into the habitable zone for part of the orbit . Credit: Astrobiology CenterOnly 37 light-years from Earth, a super-Earth planet has been discovered close to a red dwarf star’s habitable zone.

Red dwarfs are more visible at infrared wavelengths. In order to look for evidence of planets surrounding red dwarf stars, the Astrobiology Center in Japan created an infrared observational instrument mounted atop the Subaru Telescope. The instrument is called IRD for Infrared Doppler, the observational method used in this search.

The first fruits of this search are signs of a super-Earth four times the mass of the Earth circling the star Ross 508, located 37 light-years away in the constellation Serpens. This planet, Ross 508 b, has a year of only 11 Earth-days and lies at the inner edge of the habitable zone around its host star.

To have the very first planet discovered by this new method be so tantalizingly close to the habitable zone seems too good to be true and bodes well for future discoveries. Bun’ei Sato, a Professor at theand the principal investigator in this search comments, “It has been 14 years since the start of IRD’s development. We have continued our development and research with the hope of finding a planet exactly like Ross 508 b.

Reference: “A super-Earth orbiting near the inner edge of the habitable zone around the M4.

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