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A team of astronomers has discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting a star located 4,000 light-years away from the solar system, potentially providing insight into Earth’s distant future. This rocky planet, with a mass similar to Earth, is orbiting a white dwarf in the constellation Sagittarius. Possibility of life has been seen on this planet. This discovery brings a ray of hope for Earth’s survival when our Sun enters its final phase.
This suggests that Earth could potentially escape being consumed by the expanding Sun, opening up possibilities of human migration to the outer solar system, with moons like Europa, Callisto and Ganymede around Jupiter or Enceladus near Saturn becoming potential shelters for future generations.
See what this new planet looks like
What is a white dwarf?
A white dwarf is the remnant left after a star’s nuclear fuel is exhausted and its outer layers are released. This marks the end of the Sun. As the Sun runs out of nuclear fuel, it will turn into a red giant, then shrink to a white dwarf. The extent of its expansion will determine which planets in the solar system will be engulfed by it — Mercury and Venus are likely to be incinerated. But what about Earth?
Will Earth perish?
As the Sun expands into a red giant, its loss of mass will push planets into more distant orbits. This phenomenon may allow Earth to escape destruction. “Whether life on Earth can survive during that (red giant) period is unknown. But of course, the most important thing is that Earth is not swallowed up by the Sun before it becomes a red giant,” said Jessica Lu, associate professor of astronomy at UC Berkeley.
“In any case, planet Earth will remain habitable for only the next billion years, at which time Earth’s oceans will evaporate from the greenhouse effect — long before the risk of being swallowed up by the red giant Sun.”
So can humanity find refuge beyond Earth?
As the Sun turns into a red giant, the habitable zone in the Solar System will shift outward to the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Many of their moons, such as Europa and Callisto, may become ocean worlds capable of supporting life. Humanity could migrate there before then.
