Newly discovered planet may support life, scientists say By Scientific American, adapted by Newsela staff on 08.30.16 Word Count 781
The two bright stars are (left) Alpha Centauri and (right) Beta Centauri. The faint red star in the center of the red circle is Proxima Centauri. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
For years scientists and the public alike dreamed of a day when we would find another planet where humans could live. The safe bet was to guess that the discovery of such a planet would come only after hundreds of years. The safe bet was wrong.
Proxima b May Support Life Scientists just made one of the biggest announcements in the history of space study. A possible planet has been discovered that may support life. Scientists are calling this possible planet Proxima b. They are still waiting for verification that it is, in fact, a planet. Planets must move in orbit, circling around a star. Scientists also don't know whether there is water on the surface or if the planet has an atmosphere. They think both are likely. This would mean the planet could support life.
Proxima b cannot be seen without a telescope. It is a little more than four light-years away from our solar system. This is more than 260,000 times the distance between the sun and the Earth. The planet is thought to be orbiting Proxima Centauri. This is the closest star to our sun. It is called a red dwarf star because of its small size and dim light compared to the sun.
"An Experience Of A Lifetime" Finding Proxima b "has been an experience of a lifetime,” says the study’s lead writer, Guillem Anglada-Escudé. He is a scientist at Queen Mary University of London. “We hope these findings inspire future generations to look beyond the stars." The study's co-author, Mikko Tuomi, a scientist at the University of Hertfordshire in England, was the first to see clues to Proxima b in 2013. He was planet hunting with Anglada-Escudé. Their efforts were combined with other findings dating back to 2000.
"We Have Believed It Was There For Years" “People seem to think we just found the planet. But no, we have believed it was there for years,” Anglada-Escudé says. “We just had to build an argument to convince others it exists.” Anglada-Escudé, Tuomi and other scientists were looking for a back-and-forth wobble of the star Proxima Centauri. This could be caused by the gravitational pull of a planet. Tuomi thought he saw signs of such a wobble. Others were not so convinced. Anglada-Escudé spent the next two years developing the “Pale Red Dot” campaign. For the first half of this year, telescopes around the world were pointed at Proxima Centauri. The Pale Red Dot team used high-tech equipment to observe the star for 60 nights in a row. After just 10 days, scientists knew they were seeing a wobble. They had found a planet.
There Could Be Many Life-Friendly Worlds In Our Galaxy Perhaps the most surprising thing about Proxima b is that it is not really a surprise at all. Scientists believe there could be many life-friendly worlds in our galaxy. They think as many as one-third of the stars could be “Goldilocks” worlds. Some scientists use the term “Goldilocks Conditions” to describe conditions on Earth. This comes from “Goldilocks and the Three Bears." In the story, Goldilocks wanders into the home of three bears while the bears are away. She tries out their porridge, their chairs and their beds. She finds some too hot or too cold, too hard or too soft, too large or too small. But one of each is just right. Likewise, Earth is not too hot or too cold, not too big or too little, not too near the sun or too far away. It's just right for life to grow. Most of these Goldilocks worlds are around red dwarf stars, like Proxima Centauri. Could there be life on these planets? Not even experts know this answer.
Scientists Are Excited To Study Proxima b As news of Proxima b spreads, more and more scientists are excited to study it. They want to measure its size, its weight and what Proxima b is made of. Studying Proxima Centauri's wobbles would also help determine the possibilities for life on Proxima b. Proxima b also offers an opportunity for new large, ground-based telescopes that are under construction around the world. These telescopes could take pictures of Proxima b. This would unveil new information about its make-up and history. The biggest of these telescopes will be the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which could be in use in Chile by 2024. What's more, Proxima b's discovery is fueling new interest in searches for radio- or laserbased messages beamed toward Earth from any technologically talkative aliens on the planet, as well as futuristic proposals to send robots there to explore. "The search for life on Proxima b comes next," says Anglada-Escudé.
Quiz 1
Read the section "Scientists Are Excited To Study Proxima b." What is a MAIN goal of the scientists studying Proxima b?
2
(A)
to show that it is a big star
(B)
to prove that it is not a planet
(C)
to discover if there is life on the planet
(D)
to test out new telescopes and see if they work
Which of the following are two main ideas from the article? 1.
A possible planet has been discovered that may support life. Proxima b cannot be seen without a telescope. 3. Some scientists use the term “Goldilocks Conditions” to describe conditions on Earth. 4. As news of Proxima b spreads, more and more scientists are excited to study it. 2.
3
4
(A)
1 and 2
(B)
3 and 4
(C)
1 and 4
(D)
2 and 3
Based on the article, why is it important for scientists to study other planets? (A)
to show why the Earth is the best place for humans to live
(B)
to prove that there are more stars than planets
(C)
to count the number of planets that exist in the galaxy
(D)
to see if there are other planets humans could live on some day
What effect did the discovery of Proxima b have on scientists? (A)
Scientists were worried that it might not be a planet.
(B)
Scientists were excited to keep studying the planet.
(C)
Scientists were disappointed to find out Proxima b was a planet.
(D)
Scientists were sad that they had not discovered Proxima b sooner.
Answer Key 1
Read the section "Scientists Are Excited To Study Proxima b." What is a MAIN goal of the scientists studying Proxima b?
2
(A)
to show that it is a big star
(B)
to prove that it is not a planet
(C)
to discover if there is life on the planet
(D)
to test out new telescopes and see if they work
Which of the following are two main ideas from the article? 1.
A possible planet has been discovered that may support life. Proxima b cannot be seen without a telescope. 3. Some scientists use the term “Goldilocks Conditions” to describe conditions on Earth. 4. As news of Proxima b spreads, more and more scientists are excited to study it. 2.
3
4
(A)
1 and 2
(B)
3 and 4
(C)
1 and 4
(D)
2 and 3
Based on the article, why is it important for scientists to study other planets? (A)
to show why the Earth is the best place for humans to live
(B)
to prove that there are more stars than planets
(C)
to count the number of planets that exist in the galaxy
(D)
to see if there are other planets humans could live on some day
What effect did the discovery of Proxima b have on scientists? (A)
Scientists were worried that it might not be a planet.
(B)
Scientists were excited to keep studying the planet.
(C)
Scientists were disappointed to find out Proxima b was a planet.
(D)
Scientists were sad that they had not discovered Proxima b sooner.
