Planet With Liquid Water Found in Our Cosmic Backyard

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]Well, apparently, Earth may not be the only place where you can have a glass of water. Scientists found one more world that looks very promising because it might have liquid water on its surface.

[00:00:13]Even Mars [music] can't compete with that.

[00:00:16]This planet is not too far from Earth and orbits a star called GJ 887.

[00:00:22]Look, this is Earth and this is the Sun.

[00:00:25]Zooming out, see this speck of light?

[00:00:28]It's the star we're talking about. The star is 10.7 light-years away from ours.

[00:00:34]For comparison, Earth is way, way less than one light-year away from the Sun.

[00:00:39]And a spacecraft could get us to the Sun in a few years. But with our modern technologies, we would need over 270,000 years to get to that star system.

[00:00:50]And still, that's close by space standards, of course.

[00:00:55]Scientists call the planet a super-Earth because it's bigger than [music] our planet, more than six times the mass of Earth.

[00:01:02]That's heavy enough to have strong gravity and a thick atmosphere.

[00:01:07]Another interesting thing is that, unlike many stars of its type, GJ 887 doesn't flare up much.

[00:01:15]Big stellar flares can blast away a planet's atmosphere. The fewer flares there are, the better chance a planet has of holding onto air, water, and maybe even life.

[00:01:26]When astronomers talk about the habitable zone around a star, they mean a spot that is not too hot and not too cold where water [music] could exist on the surface. But water isn't just about temperature. You also need air. Without an atmosphere, any water would evaporate or boil away instantly.

[00:01:47]According to researchers, the star's planet, GJ 887d, might actually have an atmosphere, >> [music] >> which makes it a true habitable zone planet.

[00:01:57]Now, scientists already found two other planets around the same star back in 2020.

[00:02:03]But, both were too close to the star, way too hot for liquid water to survive on their surfaces.

[00:02:09]The research also hinted at a third planet around this star. But, at first, scientists weren't completely sure it was real. They thought the data could have been a fluke or weird blips in the measurements.

[00:02:22]But, after 5 more years of watching the star, the planet was confirmed.

[00:02:27]It orbits its star every 51 days or so.

[00:02:30]So, you'd celebrate your birthday once every 51 days there.

[00:02:35]It's even shorter than a year on Mercury, which means the planet is very close to its star.

[00:02:41]Then, why doesn't it burn up and could even host life?

[00:02:45]The thing is, the star GJ 887 is smaller and dimmer than our sun. That's why it doesn't blast this third planet with heat.

[00:02:54]So, even with a shorter orbit, the planet's temperatures should be only a little warmer than those on Earth.

[00:03:01]Now, the good news is that the conditions on this new super-Earth might actually allow water to pool somewhere [music] instead of evaporating immediately. No wonder this discovery is a big deal. For one thing, we might finally find life beyond Earth.

[00:03:17]Because where there's liquid water, there's a good chance of life.

[00:03:21]Plus, if we ever had to leave Earth, GJ 887d could be a strong contender for our new planet.

[00:03:29]Now, one big problem for planets around small stars is flares. Many red dwarfs blast their planets with intense bursts of radiation, stripping away any atmosphere.

[00:03:41]Without air, water can't stick around, and life doesn't have any chance to survive.

[00:03:47]It's probably why Proxima b, the nearest planet outside our solar system, likely has no atmosphere at all.

[00:03:55]But, GJ 887 is unusually calm. It doesn't flare like other small stars. Of course, this might just be temporary, or it could last for billions of years.

[00:04:06]Either way, it makes GJ 887d more promising for holding onto air. The planet is also heavy, which means a lot of gravity. It would make launching rockets tricky, and it wouldn't be an easy feat to go for a walk there.

[00:04:22]But, heavier gravity is also good for keeping a thick atmosphere.

[00:04:27]If it developed on the planet, it could protect the surface and trap just enough heat.

[00:04:33]Unlike some planets, our guy doesn't pass in front of its star from our point of view. That means we can't easily measure its atmosphere by seeing how the starlight filters through it.

[00:04:44]Instead, astronomers need to use the radial velocity method, which detects tiny wobbles in the star caused by the planet's gravity.

[00:04:53]We still have a lot to learn about [music] this world that might turn into a top travel destination one day.

[00:05:00]Every year, astronomers discover new planets outside our solar system. So far, we've found over 6,000 exoplanets, planets orbiting stars other than the sun.

[00:05:11]What interests us the most are planets that could host life, or at least have the right conditions for it.

[00:05:19]The big goal is finding stable liquid water on the surface, not frozen solid or boiling away into space.

[00:05:26]For water to stay liquid, a planet can't be too far from its star. Too far, and all the water will freeze into ice. Too close, and it will boil off like water on a stove.

[00:05:37]And since every star is different, each one has its own habitable zone, depending on its size, temperature, and brightness.

[00:05:46]So far, telescopes around the world have found about 70 planets in a habitable zone.

[00:05:51]But only 30 of them are rocky like Earth, where oceans might actually exist.

[00:05:57]The thing is, only rocky planets can have oceans because they have a solid surface where water can collect. Plus, such planets also have gravity, which helps keep water in liquid form. Without it, water would quickly evaporate into space or freeze solid.

[00:06:14]Now, having these conditions doesn't mean life is guaranteed.

[00:06:19]Venus and Mars [music] are technically in the Sun's habitable zone, but Venus is a roasting oven and Mars is a frozen desert. Life there seems unlikely.

[00:06:31]Or, take this planet for example.

[00:06:34]This super-Earth is 20 light-years away.

[00:06:36]Astronomers spotted it in January 2025 using telescopes at ESO in Chile. At first, it sounded very promising, but the planet's orbit is very stretched out like a long oval. That means it swings in and out of the habitable zone during its year.

[00:06:54]When it's far from its star, freezing winter lasts forever, not exactly life-friendly.

[00:07:01]But even a perfect orbit isn't always enough.

[00:07:04]In the Gliese 667 C system, 22 light-years away, astronomers found three planets in the habitable zone.

[00:07:12]But one, it's planet F, is tidally locked. One side always faces the star and is scorching hot. The other side is in permanent shadow, freezing cold. Life could only survive in a thin strip between the two regions, or if strong winds spread heat across the planet.

[00:07:31]A true habitable planet also needs protection from cosmic rays, like a magnetic field and a thick atmosphere.

[00:07:39]Otherwise, radiation from the star will fry any chance of life.

[00:07:45]Take the TRAPPIST-1 system discovered in 2016.

[00:07:49]Three planets orbit in the habitable zone, but TRAPPIST-1 b is tidally locked, gets blasted by stellar radiation, and has no atmosphere at all.

[00:08:00]The other two planets might have atmospheres, but we don't know yet if they can block out harmful radiation.

[00:08:08]Red dwarf stars, small, cool, dim, and also the most common in our galaxy, make things trickier. Their habitable zones are close to the star, so any planets there get hit by strong solar flares.

[00:08:21]Our closest potential second home, Proxima Centauri b, faces this problem.

[00:08:27]Unfortunately, it doesn't transit or cross its star from Earth's point of view, so we really can't study its atmosphere or see if it can protect life.

[00:08:38]And even planets that tick all the boxes, the perfect orbit, habitable zone, atmosphere, can still be nightmarish, like Venus.

[00:08:47]A circular orbit, habitable zone, thick atmosphere, and yet it's basically an oven with crushing pressure inside.

[00:08:56]Even Earth itself isn't perfect for life everywhere. The North and South Poles are freezing.

[00:09:02]The Atacama Desert is almost completely dry, so life struggles there, too.

[00:09:07]That's why astronomers aren't stopping at planets in the habitable zone.

[00:09:11]They're now hunting for signs of life in the air. Certain gases can hint at life.

[00:09:16]CO2 and methane might come from biology, or they might not. Some gases, like dimethyl sulfide, are thought to come only from living things, but scientists aren't 100% sure.

[00:09:29]So, the tricky part is, how can we tell if a gas is made by life or by rocks and chemistry alone? Well, we've got new telescopes like ESO's extremely large telescope. They can give us much [music] more detail.

[00:09:44]They could help us find more planets in the temperate zone and even reveal certain traits [music] that would tell us if a planet is truly habitable.

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