"Dubbed HD 137010 b, the planet might fall just within the outer edges of its star's 'habitable zone', meaning there could be liquid water on its surface and a suitable atmosphere for life. However, any potential aliens living on this planet would need to be well adapted for cold weather. 'Although of a stellar type similar to our Sun, the star, HD 137010, is cooler and dimmer,' NASA explained."
"NASA's scientists discovered the rocky exoplanet using data gathered by the Kepler Space Telescope. This discovery comes from a single 'transit' - the planet crossing its star's face - which was detected during Kepler's second mission, K2. While one transit doesn't sound like much, this was enough for the scientists to estimate the exoplanet's orbital period. By tracking the time it took for the planet's shadow to move across its sun's face,"
HD 137010 b is a rocky exoplanet 146 light-years away that may orbit near the outer edge of its star's habitable zone. The host star is similar in type to the Sun but cooler and dimmer, which could produce planetary surface temperatures near -90°F (-68°C), colder than Mars. The planet was detected by a single transit in Kepler's K2 mission, enabling an estimated orbital period of about 10 hours versus Earth's 13 hours as reported. Atmospheric modeling suggests a 40% chance of lying within a conservative habitable zone and a 51% chance within an optimistic one; a CO2-richer atmosphere could permit temperate or watery conditions despite likely freezing temperatures.
Read at Mail Online
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