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Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation
The orbits of planets in the Gliese 581 system are compared to those of our own solar system. The Gliese 581 star has about 30 percent the mass of our sun, and the outermost planet is closer to its star than we are to the sun. Gliese 581d might be able to sustain liquid water on its surface.
By John Roach
The case is building about the habitability of a planet orbiting a red dwarf star about 20-light years away from Earth, according to a new climate modeling study.
The planet, Gliese 581d, is one of a handful of planets orbiting the star Gliese 581. When it was discovered in 2007, astronomers thought it was likely too cold for liquid water, and thus life.
The new study, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggests high concentrations of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere could keep things warm enough for liquid water to be sustained at the surface.
The finding falls on the heels of a similar atmospheric modeling studies published that have reached a similar conclusion.
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