The planet has a solid surface, can hold liquid water, and has the potential to support life.
Recently, Australian astronomers discovered a planet with great potential to become a “third Earth”. Named planet: Wolf 1061c.
This planet has a mass four times that of Earth and is one of three planets with orbits around the dwarf Wolf 1061 – a low-temperature star with a mass much smaller than the Sun. The peculiarity is that the star system – the planet is only 14 light years away – which is much closer than the Kepler 452b to “Second Earth”.
![Hy vọng mới cho loài người: Có một "Trái đất thứ 3" ở cực gần Trái đất - Ảnh 1.](https://kenh14cdn.com/thumb_w/620/2015/2f49a48300000578-3362741-astronomers-believe-they-have-discovered-two-of-the-most-distant-a-111-1450293707800-1450324151031.jpg "Hy vọng mới cho loài người: Có một "Trái đất thứ 3" ở cực gần Trái đất - Ảnh 1.")
According to Dr Duncan Wright of the University of New South Wales (Australia): “This discovery is really impressive, because all three planets have masses low enough to have a solid surface. The middle planet – Wolf 1061c – is also located in Goldilocks – suggesting the possibility that this planet contains liquid water, and even life.
![Hy vọng mới cho loài người: Có một "Trái đất thứ 3" ở cực gần Trái đất - Ảnh 2.](https://kenh14cdn.com/thumb_w/620/2015/2f6d4c2300000578-3362741-this-is-a-simulation-of-the-wolf-1061-system-wolf-1061-is-an-ina-m-70-1450283062789-1450322729830.jpg "Hy vọng mới cho loài người: Có một "Trái đất thứ 3" ở cực gần Trái đất - Ảnh 2.")
The 1061c wolf’s orbit (middle) can be found in the Goldilocks – habitable zone (green)
The Wolf 1061 b, c, d trio of planets have orbits around the host star for 5, 18, and 67 days, respectively. In which, Wolf 1061 b and d are too close or too far apart to support life.
Dr Wright added, “Due to the relatively close proximity to the host star Wolf 1061, we should be able to understand the atmospheres of these planets in the future and determine if they can support life. or not”.
Wolf 1061c could be humanity’s new hope
Solid surface planets are plentiful in the universe, some experts say, but most are thousands of light years away – meaning that current technology makes it impossible to move around them. Therefore, Wolf 1061c is perhaps the number one hope of humanity.
