Gliese 3378, also known as GJ 3378, LHS 1805 or TIC 322347050, is a red dwarf star located 25 light-years away in the northern constellation of Camelopardalis.
The newfound planet, Gliese 3378b, has a mass about 2.3 times that of Earth and an orbital period of 21.45 days.
It sits inside its host star’s habitable zone — the ‘goldilocks’ region around a star where a planet receives just the right amount of solar radiation such that water can exist in a liquid state on a planet’s surface.
“About 70% of stars in our galaxy are red dwarfs, so they represent the standard,” said Dr. Michael Endl, an astronomer at the University of Texas, Austin.
“It’s really important that we understand the planet population around these stars.”
“This one’s exciting,” said Dr. Paul Robertson, an astronomer at the University of California, Irvine.
“It’s one of our closest cosmic neighbors. 25 light-years sounds like a long way, but the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across, so in that respect it’s our next-door neighbor.”
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