Habitable Red Dwarf Planet (IMAGE)

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Habitable Red Dwarf Planet

Caption

This artist's conception shows a hypothetical habitable planet with two moons orbiting a red dwarf star. Astronomers have found that 6 percent of all red dwarf stars have an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone, which is warm enough for liquid water on the planet's surface. Since red dwarf stars are so common, then statistically the closest Earth-like planet should be only 13 light-years away.

Credit

David A. Aguilar (CfA)

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