A team of astronomers has discovered the planet HD 137010 b, comparable to Mars, located 146 light-years away, whose characteristics suggest the possibility of the existence of conditions necessary for life.

An international team of researchers has identified a new planet, HD 137010 b, located approximately 146 light-years from Earth, having similar dimensions to those of Earth and conditions resembling those of Mars. The planet orbits a star similar to the Sun and is estimated to be 6% larger than Earth, with an orbit of about 355 days. Dr. Chelsea Huang from the University of Southern Queensland mentioned that there is about a 50% chance that HD 137010 b is in the habitable zone of its star. Although the discovery is promising, Dr. Sara Webb, an astrophysicist at Swinburne University, emphasized that more observations are needed to confirm its status as an exoplanet. She added that, although the planet is relatively close in galactic terms, traveling to it would take tens of thousands of years with current technology. The research was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.