For centuries, people wonder if we are alone in the universe, but the discovery of aliens still escapes us. However, scientists have recently discovered a very promising candidate about where there could be life: an exoplanet called HD 20794 D, according to Dailymail.

This exoplanet is about 19.7 light-years away in the constellation of Iridanos and has six times larger mass than Earth, winning the nickname “Super Earth”. It is in the “residential zone” of its star, which means that conditions can be suitable for water in liquid form and possibly life.

The planet was identified for first time in 2022 By Dr Michael Cretignier, using Harps spectrographer at La Sigia Observatory in Chile. Harps is a powerful tool that helps scientists detect exoplanets by observing the “swing” of the light of an star, which is caused by the gravitational attraction of a planet that rotates around it. Although the original signal was weak, a team of scientists analyzed two decades of Harps and his successor Espresso and confirmed the discovery. They also used data from NASA’s Tess Space Telescope to enhance the findings.

Although the discovery is exciting, there is still a long way to find out more about HD 20794 D. Although it is in the living zone, it is too early to say if it can support life. For example, scientists do not yet know whether the planet has water or atmosphere, two key elements of life. “Being a planet in the living zone is not enough to guarantee life“, Explains Dr Michael Cretignier, referring to Aphrodite and Mars as examples of planets in our solar system that is also in the living zone, but are not suitable for life.

A unique feature of the HD 20794 D is its elliptical trajectory, which means that its distillation from its star changes throughout the year. This causes the planet to move from the outer to the inner edge of the living zone. The star rotating around it is bright enough that, with a telescope, it can be observed from the Earth to the southern hemisphere.

Although the HD 20794 D is a promising case, there are many other exoplanets out there who can also support life. The discovery is just the beginning of a project that can take decades. “There is still a long way to go in front of us,” says Dr Michael Cretignier.

Although the planet is relatively close to secular distances, it is still too far away to reach existing technology. As Dr Michael Cretignier says, ‘On the scale of the universe, this is our neighborhood. But they are hopelessly out of range“

In the future, the HD 20794 D could be a central target for space missions looking for signs of life outside our solar system. The search for life in the universe continues and the HD 20794 D can be one of the first planets to give us elements.