There has been a number of stars with planets already seen. Most of them have large planets around them, though some have planets that are almost the size of the Earth. As more star systems are seen with planets, the possibility of having Earth-sized planets are also increasing.
Astrophysicists at the University of Bern have made computer simulations of low-mass stars. Through these computer simulations, they have found out that Earth-sized planets could be possible, according to Phys Org.
The astrophysicists are greatly encouraged by the recent discovery of planets around Proxima Centauri, as well as another discovery made in May 2016 of another planet on the star Trappist-1. Both stars are low-mass stars and are considered as red dwarfs.
Leading the study are Yann Alibert and Will Benz at the Swiss NCCR PlanetS and the Center of Space and Habitability at the University of Bern, as Science Daily reports. The computer simulations made show that such planets to have 0.5 to 1.5 Earth radii and peaking to 1.0 Earth radius. That means the sizes of these planets would be almost the same as that of the Earth.
The simulated planets also have more water in them than that of the Earth, with some of them likely to 10 percent of their surface to be water. The water in comparison is made up of only 0.02 percent water. The simulated earth-sized planets could have oceans that are far deeper than what the Earth has.
The simulated planets may or may not have a life. In their simulations, Benz said that having too much water might destabilize the environment and its climate, but added that the case might only be applicable to the Earth. The other planets might be able to sustain life as conditions there would likely be different from what can be found here.
The simulated planets are also much closer to their stars than the Earth is since red dwarfs are less luminous. While their simulations show that Earth-like planets can exist, it would still be different from actually seeing a planet that has life in it.
"Future discoveries will tell if we are correct," Alibert said. An early report has astronomers finding a binary-binary star system.
