Extraterrestrial life may be closer than previously thought, on a nearby super-Earth called GJ 3378 b, according to a study published in The Astrophysics Journal last week.
First discovered in 2024, the exoplanet, a planet outside of our solar system, sits just 25 light-years away from Earth in a nearby star system, a small distance compared to the size of the Milky Way galaxy.
The peer-reviewed study, led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, analyzed GJ 3378 b in depth and found that it may lie within the habitable zone, the region with just the right amount of solar radiation to support liquid water.
Due to its proximity to Earth, researchers have believed that the super-Earth, a rocky planet with a mass two to ten times Earth’s, was a perfect candidate for further study.
This idea is supported by the exoplanet's temperature being almost 0 °C and the fact that it receives 91% of the energy Earth receives from the Sun.
The exoplanet could have a similar atmosphere to Earth
In the study, scientists also recalculated the mass of GJ 3378 b, finding that it’s only 2.3 times Earth's mass, down from a previous measurement of five times Earth’s mass. This lower mass suggests it could be a rocky planet like Earth and have a similar atmospheric pressure, placing the exoplanet in the habitable zone and increasing the likelihood of extraterrestrial life.
Despite the promising revelations published in the study, it’s important to note that there isn’t any evidence yet that GJ 3378 b actually has an atmosphere or liquid water, and stellar winds may have eroded any atmosphere it once had.
Because so many unknowns remain about this exoplanet, scientists hope to conduct further research to better understand the possibility of extraterrestrial life on GJ 3378 b.
NASA plans to launch the Habitable Worlds Observatory in the 2040s, a mission whose goal is “to image Earth-like planets around other sun-like stars,” according to NASA’s website.
