The science fiction movie “Interstellar” has led to heated debates in online groups. In the movie, the main characters have to find a new home. They do this by going through wormholes from planet to planet until they reach the beautiful and vast stars.
In the end, though, the characters still weren’t able to find a good place for people to live. Could it be that in such a big universe, there isn’t another planet like Earth?
Scientists have answered this question by saying that there is a planet only 22 light years away from Earth that is as similar to Earth as 84%. It’s 667Cc Gliese.
How does Super Earth work?
Before we talk about Gliese 667Cc, let’s talk about what a super-Earth is.
Concept Map of Super-Earth
Earth has been changed into Super Earth. It is a superplanet like Earth that orbits a star and has a mass between 2.5 and 10 times that of Earth. In 2005, a group of American scientists found a new super-Earth. They called it Gliese 876d. The planet is 7.5 times as heavy as Earth, has a two-day orbit, and can get as hot as 650 degrees Kelvin on its surface (1 degree Kelvin equals -272.15 degrees Celsius).
Gliese 876d
Our star of the show today, Gliese 667Cc, is part of a group of galaxies called the Gliese group. Gliese 667Cc is part of the super-Earth Gliese 667C. It has 3.9 times the mass of Earth and is 3.9 times the size of Earth.
Gliese 667Cc
When the energy runs out, the earth’s greenhouse effect will be much weaker, the glaciers will be covered, and the world will probably go back to the “Ice Age.”
Even though the area we are in now is pretty safe and doesn’t pose many security risks, no one knows what will happen in the future when we face the unknown universe. So find a good planet as quickly as you can.
A super-Earth is a place that is similar to the Earth in that it is a good place to live. At first, scientists only looked at the quality of the planet when deciding if it was a super-Earth. When they realized that this idea was wrong, they slowly started to look at parameters like temperature, humidity, index of habitability, and orbital period. More than 4,000 super-Earths have been found in the observable universe, based on a number of different criteria. So, which of those 4,000 super-Earths are good places for people to live? Yes, that’s the answer.
Scientists had already found an extrasolar planet called Kepler 22b that was in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. The surface of Kepler 22b is only 21 °C, and it goes around its star every 290 days, which is a lot like Earth and makes it a good place for people to live.
But the planet was ruled out because it was 600 light years from Earth. Since the speed of light is 300,000 meters per second, it seems that the distance between the planet Kepler 22b and the earth is too far.
However, with a distance of 22 light years from the planet Gliese 667Cc, it became the focus of observations for scientists. Gliese 667Cc, like its neighbors, is in the habitable zone and the positions of the stars make them the best planets to search for liquid water and potentially life.
Wonders of the three suns
Imagine three suns hanging in the sky, such a majestic sight that can only be seen in myth books. Compared to planets like Mars, where the temperature difference between day and night can be as high as three digits, it is still more suitable for human habitation.
NASA sent Voyager into space in 1977. The spacecraft downloaded videos about people that were interesting and educational. It has been in space for more than 40 years, but it still can’t fly out of the Milky Way.
Can we question whether or not there is life out there?
Yes, scientists can only make reasonable conclusions when certain things are true. For example, for there to be life on a planet, there must be liquid water and an environment that is good for people to live in.
There could be liquid water on the planet.
As humans improve their technology and spaceships get faster, they will be able to explore more of the universe. Maybe one day we will be able to travel the 600 light-years to Kepler 22b, Earth’s “twin” planet.
In 2022, scientists found HD 260655b again. It is a superplanet with a mass twice that of Earth and an average temperature about 400 degrees Celsius higher than that of Earth.
Astronomers say that the discovery of this planet could give us important clues in our search for life on other planets.
Even though this planet might not be a good place for people to live, it is a big step forward for humanity in the vast universe and shows that the pace of human discovery will never slow down.
Every step we take today is a bigger step into the future, just like the footprints that Apollo left on the moon.
