NASA finds signs of life on a newly discovered red exoplanet (Image – Pixabay, Representational image)
Delhi: Life on other planet has often been an intriguing topic the answer to which is still not guaranteed. Every now and then we come across discoveries speaking of possibility of life on other planets. After all the universe to big to think that we are just alone. Similarly, NASA recently discovered a Super- Earth that is said to be four times the mass of our planet and it is some 37 light years away only! This newly discovered exoplanet is named as Ross 508b. Also, it is rather interesting to note that our 365 days in a year, are equivalent to merely 11 Earth -days on Ross 508b.

According to a statement released by NASA, Ross 508 b is a super Earth exoplanet that orbits an M-type star. Its mass is 4 Earths, it takes 10.8 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.05366 AU from its star. Its orbit takes it in, and out, of its star’s habitable zone.

Is there life on Ross 508b?
According to the Weather Channel, this discovery was made with the help of Japan’s Subaru Telescope. It is said that currently the planet is skimming edges of the habitable zone of a red dwarf star.

NASA further elaborated that such a planet may be able to retain water on its surface, and will be an important target for future observations to study the possibility of life around low-mass stars like the M dwarf it orbits. Red dwarfs, which constitute three-quarters of the stars in our galaxy and exist in large numbers in the vicinity of our solar system. This further makes them targets to explore more about life on exoplanets nearby.

While red dwarfs are cooler than other stars, studying them can be a bit of a task as they emit les light making them less visible.

A unique thing about this discovery is that it is the first exoplanet to be found by Subaru Strategic Programme using infrared spectrograph IRD on the Subaru Telescope (IRD-SSP). The IRD was specifically developed to look for such red-dwarf exoplanets.

“It has been 14 years since the start of IRD’s development. We have continued our development and research with the hope of finding a planet exactly like Ross 508b,” said Tokyo Institute of Technology’s Professor Bun’ei Sato, the principal investigator of IRD-SSP, as published by Weather Channel.

While this discovery has given hopes that life might be sustainable on other planets, it is still a long haul for confirmations as more research is still underway. Finding life on other cosmic entities in the neighbourhood has still a long way to go.