Major discovery: a new "Super-Earth"

A team of researchers from Oxford University has confirmed the existence of an exoplanet in the "Super-Earth" category, located 20 light-years from Earth. This one, called HD 20794 d, orbits a star similar to the Sun and could be in the ideal conditions to support the existence of water and, possibly, life, informs DPA. This planet has a mass six times greater than that of the Earth and is located in the habitable zone, the region around a star where temperatures allow the presence of water in a liquid state. Its orbit is elliptical, which means that the distance from its star fluctuates, and the effect on the conditions on the planet's surface remains unknown.

Michael Cretignier, a researcher at the University of Oxford, identified a possible signal of the planet in 2022 in archived data from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. After two decades of observations, the discovery was confirmed by an international team. "It was a huge joy to confirm the existence of the planet. Intriguingly, its proximity to us means there is hope for future space missions to obtain images of the planet," said Michael Cretignier.

This planet represents a crucial case study for future space missions searching for signs of extraterrestrial life. It is also one of the most promising candidates for characterizing the atmospheres of exoplanets and identifying biosignatures - possible evidence of the existence of life forms. Researchers hope that advanced telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) or future exoplanet exploration missions, will be able to analyze the composition of HD 20794 d's atmosphere and provide answers to the fundamental question: are we alone in the universe? The study detailing the discovery of this exoplanet was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.