America’s “exoplanet hunter” space telescope Kepler although it ended its activity in 2018, scientists are still benefiting from the data it collected during its nearly ten-year mission. This time it’s a remarkable one discoverywhich will please all those who lower their expectations to habitable planets. Exoplanet HD 137010 b it is almost like Earth’s twin, with only a slight difference. From what we know, it’s apparently colder than Mars.
It appears to be a terrestrial planet orbiting an orange spectral class K dwarf about 146 light-years away. The planet should be very similar to Earth in size – only about 6 percent larger. Coincidentally, it also probably has a virtually identical orbit, orbiting its parent star in about 355 days.
A cold but hopeful world
The existence of the exoplanet HD 137010 b will still need to be independently verified, so far it is only an exoplanetary candidate. But if its existence can be confirmed, it will be an extremely interesting discovery. According to current estimates, the exoplanet HD 137010 b orbits somewhere on the outer edge of the habitable zone of its star.
The problem is that the orange dwarf in question is cooler compared to the Sun and only about a third as powerful. Based on this, scientists conclude that the maximum temperatures on the surface of the exoplanet HD 137010 are around minus 90 °C, which roughly corresponds to the average temperature on the surface of today’s Mars. But there are other factors at play.
It may sound surprising to an Earthling, but despite the parameters of the star and its orbit, it can exoplanet HD 137010 b still to be a world with a temperate climate. It is enough, for example, if it had an atmosphere richer in carbon dioxide than our Earth. In that case, the greenhouse effect would do the rest. For now, this exoplanet is one of the most promising worlds in terms of habitability and deserves our attention.
date:2026-02-08 23:14:00
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