Which planet can you live on besides Earth
Finding a earth like planet is quite easy. But the distance matters. So I would not waste my time traveling to the habitable exoplanet which would take 100 thousand years or even longer from the earth to reach there with current fastest human-carrying spacecraft.
Now back to our question,
In practical terms, till now we don’t find any planets on which humans can survive.
Theoretically, there are other possibly habitable planets in the universe on which we humans might be able to survive.
By survive, I mean live, reproduce, grow, food sources, build shelters without having to build artificial atmospheres, mine the planet for resources, etc.
None, as of now.
However, there are a few worthy contenders that may have habitable environments.
Mars
This is one of the first planets that come to the minds of anyone who is asked this question. And, indeed, it deserves to be.
Besides being located right in the habitable zone of the Solar System, Mars also has traces of water on it and it is implied that Mars once had oceans and seas just like the Earth.
Except, that by now, it has grown very very cold. Currently, a typical summer day on Mars near the equator is around 20°C.
However it can easily go down to -73°C at night. Another defect is the lack of oxygen on Mars.
Mars has around 96% of carbon dioxide and only free traces of Oxygen which might amount to around 0.1%.
Proxima Centauri-B
This planet had been in news for quite a time when it was discovered in around August 2016.
This planet is also, of course, within the habitable zone of its star, Proxima Centauri.
Scientists suggest that it may also have water if the right climatic conditions are present over there.
It is around 4.3 light years away. Less, according to cosmological distance but a lot in terms of our measurements.
However, despite its habitable nature, it is feared that the planet might be tidally locked to the Sun, i.e. it may not rotate at all.
Assumptions about Oxygen being present or not cannot be made as of now.
It’s a very unlikely contender, but I just felt it should be on the list.
Kepler 452-b
Also called Coruscant by NASA (referring to the famous Star Wars fictional place), this is commonly known as Earth 2.0.
Orbiting the star Kepler 452, around 1400 light years away from Earth, this was the first rocky planet actually discovered in July 2015.
It’s within the habitable zone of the Kepler 452, which is a very Sun-like star.
It’s not surely known if the planet is rocky, but due to its small radius and fairly moderate density, it is assumed that it is.
The planet may also be subject to greenhouse effect to the extent seen in Venus, and that may make it very uninhabitable.
However, these are trivial worries. The main disadvantage is that at our current ‘high-speeds’ of 60,000 km/h, it may take us around 30 million years to get there.
Nonetheless, it makes a very good contender.
Gliese 667 Cc
Floating at 23 light years away from Earth, in the constellation of Scorpius, Gliese 667 Cc orbits a trinary star system within their habitable zone.
It is probably 3 times heavier than Earth. The equilibrium temperature is calculated to be 4.3°C; fairly cold but habitable.
It’s likely tidally locked to its star, with one side permanently facing it, and the other shrouded in darkness.
Discovered in 2011, this planet is not considered as Earth-like now due to certain discoveries of more such planets.
It will take around 180,000 years to reach there from earth.
Kepler-62f
Earth Similarity Index (ESI) — 0.67,
Kepler-62f is a super-Earth exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the star Kepler-62.
Kepler-62f to sustain an Earth-like climate (with an average temperature of around 11°C–17°C
Kepler-62f orbits it’s host star every 267 days and is roughly 40 percent larger than Earth in size.
Scientists speculate that the planet could be covered entirely by water.
Kepler-1229b
Earth Similarity Index (ESI) — 0.73,
Kepler-1229b is a confirmed super-Earth exoplanet, likely rocky, orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf Kepler-1229,
located about 870 light years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus.
It orbits an M-type star Kepler-1229 (red dwarf star).
Its mass is 2.54 Earths, it takes 86.8 days to complete one orbit of its star.
The planet is likely tidally locked, with one side of its hemisphere permanently facing towards the star, while the opposite side shrouded in eternal darkness.
However, between these two intense areas, there would be a sliver of habitability called the terminator line, where the temperatures may be suitable (0 °C; 32 °F) for liquid water to exist.
Additionally, a much larger portion of the planet may be habitable if it supports a thick enough atmosphere to transfer heat to the side facing away from the star.
Wolf 1061-c
Earth Similarity Index (ESI) — 0.76,
Wolf 1061c is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Wolf 1061 in the constellation Ophiuchus,
It has an estimated surface gravity of 1.6 times that on Earth,
The planet has an equilibrium temperature of −50 °C, cold enough but support life.
about 13.8 light years from Earth, making it one of the closest known, potentially habitable, and confirmed exoplanet to Earth.
Kepler-442b
Earth Similarity Index (ESI) — 0.84,
Kepler-442b is a super-Earth with a radius 1.34 times that of Earth, and orbits well within the habitable zone.
Kepler-442b is a confirmed near-Earth-sized exoplanet, likely rocky, orbiting within the habitable zone of the K-type main-sequence star.
Kepler-442b, about 1,206 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Lyra.
It has an equilibrium temperature of −40 °C. The surface gravity on Kepler-442b would be 30% stronger than Earth, assuming a rocky composition similar to that of Earth.
The planet orbits a (K-type) star named Kepler-442.
The planet is in the habitable zone of its star, a region where liquid water could exist on the planet’s surface.
It is one of the most Earth-like planets yet found in size and temperature.
Luyten b
Earth Similarity Index (ESI) — 0.91,
It is one of the most Earth-like planets ever found and is the fifth-closest potentially habitable exoplanet known,
it’s nearby red dwarf Luyten’s Star. It’s distance from earth is of 12.2 light-years.
Luyten b is a Super-Earth of around 2.89 times the mass of Earth and receives only 6% more starlight than Earth, making it one of the best candidates for habitability.
Luyten b would have an average surface temperature of about 19 °C, very similar to that of Earth.
Only Proxima Centauri b, Barnard’s Star b, Ross 128 b, and Gliese 1061 d are closer.
Teegarden b
Earth Similarity Index (ESI) — 0.95,
This one’s name sounds like ‘Tea Garden’, need I say more?
Teegarden’s Star b (also known as Teegarden b) is an exoplanet found orbiting within the habitable zone of Teegarden’s Star, an M-type red dwarf around 12 light years away from the Solar System.
Teegarden’s Star b may even have an ocean of water on its surface.
Teegarden’s Star b is the innermost known planet orbiting Teegarden’s Star, with an orbital period of just 4.91 days.
The planet’s mass is almost equal to earth mass.
So, these are the these top contenders I could come up with that may be habitable.
But again, it would be a lot better if we could just preserve the Earth and stay in it for as long as we can.
Note-:
Earth Similarity Index (ESI) Means*
The Earth Similarity Index (ESI) is a scale to physically compare other planets to our Earth.
The scale is between 0 (no similarity to Earth) and 1 (Earth-like).
Planets with an ESI between 0.8 and 1.0 are more likely to be similar to Earth.
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