A stellar runt 12 light-years away may host Earth's twins
In short: Hidden in plain sight, Teegarden’s Star was overlooked for decades because it is so dim. Now, we know it hosts two rocky worlds nearly identical to Earth in mass. Because the star is so old and quiet, these planets have had billions of years to potentially develop life.
Teegarden’s Star is an M7.0V type red dwarf, one of the smallest and coolest stars in existence. With only 9% of the Sun's mass and a surface temperature of roughly 2,900 Kelvin, it is incredibly faint—emitting only 0.00073 times the luminosity of our Sun. Despite its proximity at just 12 to 12.5 light-years away, it remained undetected until 2003 when astronomer Bonnard Teegarden identified it by analyzing archived data from the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) satellite rather than through traditional telescope observation.
The system is a prime candidate for astrobiology because of its stability. Red dwarfs make up about 75% of the Milky Way's stars and can live for over 100 billion years, compared to the Sun's 10-billion-year lifespan. Specifically, Teegarden’s Star is estimated to be at least eight billion years old—nearly twice the age of our Sun. This provides a vast window of time for life to evolve on its orbiting planets, which are situated in the habitable zone where liquid water can exist.
The two confirmed exoplanets, Teegarden's Star b and c, are 'super Earths' with masses very close to 1 Earth mass (estimates range from 1.05 to 1.16). Because the host star is so dim, these planets must orbit extremely close—Teegarden's Star b completes an orbit in just 4.9 days at a distance of about 0.025 AU. Unlike many red dwarfs that plague their planets with violent flares, Teegarden’s Star is remarkably quiet, making it a high-priority target for next-generation telescopes to scan for signs of life.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Teegarden B And C: The Closest Habitable Worlds To Earth?
- Also: Teegarden's Star b - NASA Science
- Also: Two potentially life-friendly planets found orbiting a nearby star
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