Earth-size planet found orbiting nearby star that will outlive the sun by 100 billion years
Astronomers have discovered an Earth-size planet that is showered with so much radiation
its atmosphere eroded away long ago, leaving it bare. Life as we know it can't exist on this blistering world
The newfound exoplanet, named SPECULOOS-3 b, is a rocky planet roughly 55 light-years from Earth
Telescope observations show that frequent radiation from the exoplanet's star, a 7 billion-year-old red dwarf about the size of Jupiter
"Life as we know it could not emerge on the surface of the planet — atmosphere or not — because it could not sustain large amounts of water in liquid form,"
Although SPECULOOS-3 b isn't friendly toward life, the astronomers said it is close enough to Earth for detailed follow-up studies of its chemical makeup
The researchers "searched intensively" for planetary siblings of SPECULOOS-3 b in the same star system but did not find any
He noted that those additional planets may exist but are simply too small or too far out from their host star to be seen.