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Credit & Copyright: Karen Wehrstein
Explanation:
How might a sunrise appear on Gliese 581c? One artistic guess is shown above.
Gliese 581c is the most
Earth-like planet
yet discovered and lies a mere 20
light-years
distant.
The central
red dwarf is small and redder than
our Sun
but one of the orbiting planets has recently been discovered to be in the
habitable zone where liquid water could exist on its surface.
Although this planet is much different from
Earth, orbiting much closer than
Mercury and containing five times the mass of Earth,
it is now a candidate to hold not only
oceans but
life
enabled by the oceans.
Were future observations to confirm liquid water,
Gliese 581c might become a worthy destination or
way station for future
interstellar travelers from Earth.
Drawn above in the hypothetical, the red dwarf star
Gliese 581
rises through clouds above a calm ocean of its planet
Gliese 581c.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: extrasolar planet
Publications with words: extrasolar planet
See also:
- APOD: 2020 August 18 Á TYC 8998 760 1: Multiple Planets around a Sun Like Star
- The Kepler 90 Planetary System
- NGST 10b: Discovery of a Doomed Planet
- Goldilocks Zones and Stars
- Water Vapor Discovered on Distant Exoplanet
- Artistic Impression: The Surface of TRAPPIST 1f
- Four Planets Orbiting Star HR 8799