Over the past 20-odd years, scientists have discovered more than 3 thousand stars similar to the Sun outside the solar system. In such a variety of systems, several planets have been found that are at a safe distance from their stars, and, according to recent studies, Kepler 62-f has every chance of being habitable.
Computer simulation determined that this exoplanet most likely contains rock formations, oceans, and even life. The planet was discovered relatively recently, in 2013, using the Kepler telescope. It was he who gave the planet his name - as well as 2325 other planets discovered with his help over the past 7 years.
Kepler-62f is about 1.2 thousand light years away. In size, it is only 40% larger than the Earth and revolves around its star within the habitable zone - that is, the conditions on it are close to those of our planet and provide the possibility of water formation. But, although scientists have learned that the distance from Kepler-62f to the star is optimal, it is impossible to talk about the formation of life on the planet by this factor alone.
For example, in our system there is a wonderful blue planet Venus: it is similar to the Earth in size and distance from the Sun and, it would seem, has every chance of being habitable. However, due to the dense atmosphere, it looks like a boiling pot covered with a lid: the greenhouse effect heats the planet's surface to 470 ° C, and atmospheric pressure is 90 times higher than Earth's.
Therefore, the next step was to study the atmosphere of Kepler-62f using a computer simulation that calculates all possible combinations of orbit and atmosphere. The research was led by astronomer and astrobiologist Aomawa Shields of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The options for the thickness of the atmosphere and the content of carbon dioxide in it were calculated. And the results obtained are really encouraging.
“We have identified many scenarios where the planet's surface will be warm enough to form liquid water,” Shields said. "This makes Kepler-62f a strong candidate for habitable planet."
According to the astronomer, at this distance from the star, the atmosphere of Kepler-62f must be composed entirely of carbon dioxide and be 3-5 times thicker than Earth's in order to retain heat.
If there is not enough carbon dioxide, then there is a possibility that due to the peculiarities of the orbital motion of the planet during a certain part of the year, the temperature may rise above the freezing point, and the ice may temporarily melt.
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Potential orbital trajectories were obtained using the HNBody computer model, and the climate was simulated using Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique Generic and Community Climate System Models. For the first time, the results of both types of models were combined to study an exoplanet. In the future, such a combination will be used to determine the likelihood of the existence of life on other exoplanets, while more accurate information can only be obtained using telescopes.
According to Shields, her team's research goal is to compile a list of suspected habitable planets. When more powerful telescopes are invented, scientists will finally be able to look at their atmosphere and test the simulation results.