NASA/Ames Research Center/Daniel Rutter
Scrutinizing images from a large telescope in Spain, a team of mostly European astronomers have found what seems to be a very rare kind of exoplanet 31 light-years from Earth.
The seemingly wet, airy planet called Wolf 1069 b “could very well possess the key factors in making it indeed a habitable world,” a team led by Diana Kossakowski, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, wrote in a peer-reviewed study, the latest version of which appeared online on Feb. 2. The study is slated to be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Wolf 1069 b could be Earth’s cousin. But if so, it’s that weird third cousin you avoid at the family reunion. Yes, it seems to be the right size, temperature, and composition to make a pretty good home for life as we know it. But Wolf 1069 b apparently spins at just the right speed to keep the same side facing its star at all times. That means there’s constant light or constant dark depending on which half of the planet you’re on. Equally weirdly, Wolf 1069 b might be all alone in its star system. No neighboring planets. Not even a moon to keep it company.
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