Earth-like planets have been found orbiting a star close to the sun

Two planets with masses similar to Earth have been discovered to be in orbit around the star GJ 1002.

Two planets with Earth-like masses have been found to be in orbit around the red dwarf star GJ 1002, which is close to the Solar System, by an international team of astronomers led by IAC researchers. The habitable zone of the star is where both planets are located. The recently found exoplanets revolve around the star GJ 1002, which is only 16 light years away from our solar system. They are both in the star's habitable zone and have masses that are comparable to Earth's.

The smaller of the two, GJ 1002b, completes an orbit of the star in a little over 10 days, while GJ 1002c needs just over 21 days. The red dwarf star GJ 1002 has a mass that is just around one-eighth that of the Sun. It is a little, cold star. Its habitability zone is therefore quite near the star.

The discovery was made in collaboration between the two instrument consortiums, ESPRESSO and CARMENES. CARMENES and ESPRESSO both recorded observations of GJ 1002 between 2017 and 2021. The presence of oxygen in GJ 1002c's atmosphere could be investigated using the ANDES spectrograph that will be used with the ELT telescope at ESO, in which the IAC is taking part.