Australian scientists had found the closest habitable planet orbiting a star. Wolf 1061c is about 14 light years from Earth.
Earth's nearest cosmic neighbor is actually closer than expected. A team of scientists at the University of South Wales had discovered that the nearest habitable planet outside the Solar System is Wolf1061c. This planet is orbiting around a red dwarf star in the constellation of Ophiuchus. This planet is "only" 14 light years away from Earth, with Gliese as the second closest at 22 light years.
"It is fascinating to look out at the vastness of space and think a star so very close to us - a near neighbour - could host a habitable planet," Duncan Wright, from the University of New South Wales, said.
The planet has four times more mass than the Earth. It is also one of the three planets that orbit a small red dwarf star. This star was discovered by a German astronomer Max Wolf; hence, the name of the planets (and the red dwarf star) are named after him.
The three planets are rocky just like Earth; however, the middle planet (Wolf 1061c) is the only one that is believed inhabitable. The closest planet (Wolf 1061b) is too hot for life forms to flourish, while Wolf 1061d is too cold to support ecosystems.
"The middle planet Wolf 1061c, is orbiting within the so-called 'Goldilocks zone' - the habitable zone where it might be possible for liquid water and maybe even life to exist," Wright added. "Given how close the planet is to the star it is likely to be 'tidally locked."
In order to detect the planets, the team used "Doppler wobble method." This method measures the wobble from the star's light. Thus, it got very accurate picture of what is causing the wobble.
