Latest news with #L98-59
NDTV
2 days ago
- Science
- NDTV
Exoplanet 35 Light-Years Away Offers Hope for Life Beyond Earth
A team of scientists has studied the L 98-59 planetary system and confirmed the existence of a fifth planet, named L 98-59 f, in the star's habitable zone. The zone has conditions that could allow liquid water to exist. L 98-59 is a small red dwarf located just 35 light-years from Earth. In 2019, NASA's TESS space telescope found that it hosts three small transiting exoplanets. A fourth planet was revealed through radial velocity measurements with the European Southern Observatory's ESPRESSO spectrograph. Now, the team led by the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (IREx) at the Universite de Montreal has found a fifth one in the system. "These new results paint the most complete picture we've ever had of the fascinating L 98-59 system," said Cadieux in the press release. "It's a powerful demonstration of what we can achieve by combining data from space telescopes and high-precision instruments on Earth, and it gives us key targets for future atmospheric studies with the James Webb Space Telescope [JWST]." The exoplanet has a minimum mass 2.8 times that of Earth and has been categorised as a super-Earth. L 98-59 f follows an almost perfectly circular orbit around its star, receiving roughly the same amount of stellar energy as Earth. Its location in the habitable zone suggests that liquid water could exist on its surface under suitable atmospheric conditions, making it a potential candidate to support life. If L 98-59 f has an atmosphere, telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) may be able to detect water vapour, carbon dioxide or even biosignatures. Cadieux said that the discovery highlights the "diversity of exoplanetary systems" and also "strengthens the case for studying potentially habitable worlds around low-mass stars". "With its diversity of rocky worlds and range of planetary compositions, L 98-59 offers a unique laboratory to address some of the field's most pressing questions: What are super-Earths and sub-Neptunes made of? Do planets form differently around small stars? Can rocky planets around red dwarfs retain atmospheres over time?" René Doyon, co-author of the study, who is a professor at UdeM and the Director of IREx, said. The findings are reported in research that will appear in The Astronomical Journal titled "Detailed Architecture of the L 98-59 System and Confirmation of a Fifth Planet in the Habitable Zone."
Sharjah 24
3 days ago
- Science
- Sharjah 24
New planet discovered 35 light years away
Discovery made using NASA's TESS Telescope The team utilised NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) space telescope to identify the planet, named L 98-59 f. It is one of five planets orbiting a red dwarf star in the L 98-59 system. Located in the habitable zone L 98-59 f lies within the star's habitable zone, the region where liquid water could potentially exist. It receives a similar amount of stellar energy as Earth does from the Sun, making it a candidate for possible habitability. A compact and diverse planetary system The L 98-59 system was previously believed to host only four planets. However, after extensive analysis of data from both space- and ground-based telescopes, the fifth planet was identified. Detected through stellar motion Unlike the other planets in the system, L 98-59 f does not transit between its star and Earth, making it invisible to standard transit detection methods. Instead, scientists detected it by observing subtle shifts in the motion of its host star — a method known as the radial velocity technique.
Canada News.Net
4 days ago
- Science
- Canada News.Net
Planet with potential habitability discovered 35 light years away
MONTREAL, 26th July, 2025 (WAM) -- A research team from the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at the University of Montreal has discovered a planet with characteristics that may make it suitable for life, located about 35 light years from Earth. According to Russia Today, the team used NASA's TESS space telescope to identify the planet, named L 98-59 f, which is one of five planets orbiting a red dwarf star. The planet lies within the "habitable zone" where liquid water could exist and receives a stellar energy amount similar to what Earth receives from the Sun. It is part of a compact and notably diverse planetary system. Previously, the L 98-59 star system was known to host only four planets, but detailed analysis of ground-based and space telescope data revealed the presence of a fifth planet. Unlike the other planets in the system, this one does not transit directly between its star and Earth. Instead, it was detected through subtle changes in the host star's motion.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Nearby exoplanet could offer clues about atmospheres around hot, rocky alien worlds
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A nearby Earth-size planet beyond our solar system could soon join the ranks of worlds with confirmed atmospheres, according to new research. The exoplanet, L 98-59 c, is a hot, rocky world slightly larger than Earth that orbits a bright, young star about 35 light-years away from us. While the planet itself was discovered back in 2019, a new analysis of Hubble Space Telescope observations suggests it may be capable of hosting an atmosphere, adding to the diversity of known terrestrial worlds with clearly defined "air." If confirmed, the new findings would also make L 98-59 c the first planet of its size with a detected atmosphere, astronomers say, potentially setting new constraints on the atmospheres of worlds with this size and their ability to endure extreme environments created by the harsh conditions of young, flaring stars. "L 98-59 c could be the first planet smaller than 2 Earth radii with a definitively detected atmosphere," a team of astronomers led by Thomas Barclay, a scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, stated in a new paper reporting the findings. Previous data gathered by NASA's exoplanet hunter TESS (short for Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) suggest the exoplanet's host star, L 98-59, is more active than previously thought and showers significantly more energy on its system of four, potentially five, planets than the sun does on Earth. As such, "L 98-59 c provides an excellent opportunity to probe the atmospheres of planets smaller than 1.5 Earth radii that formed and evolved in the same stellar environment," the new study reports. In April of 2020, the researchers observed the world as it transited in front of its star with the goal of detecting faint spectral features that might reveal the presence of an atmosphere. Over the course of four Hubble orbits, the team found compelling evidence that the planet's transmission spectrum is not flat, which they suspect could be indicative of atmospheric components, such as clouds or hazes, that absorb or scatter light. The study notes that the detection is not yet totally confirmed, as the single transit of L 98-59 c, while promising, limits the conclusions that can be drawn. Determining the presence of the world's atmosphere in telescope data is no easy task, particularly due to the contamination of spectral signals from its host star, which can obscure the sought-after atmospheric signals from the planet. Related Stories: — This newly found super-Earth might have blown off its own atmosphere — NASA space telescope finds Earth-size exoplanet that's 'not a bad place' to hunt for life — Massive new NASA exoplanet catalog unveils 126 extreme and exotic worlds Forthcoming observations of the planet scheduled with Hubble — and potentially even the James Webb Space Telescope — could help determine whether the signals seen so far are due to stellar spectral contamination or are actually caused by a planetary atmosphere, the study reports. These findings are described in a paper published April 2 in the Astronomical Journal.
