Researchers have discovered a new planet in the nearby solar system

A research team with Swiss participation discovered a new planet. It revolves around the star Barnard, which is one of the closest stars to us and is about six light years away from the sun.

The discovery, published Tuesday in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, is the result of four years of observations using the Espresso instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile's Atacama Desert, the University of Bern announced.

According to the European Southern Observatory, the team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which included researchers from the Universities of Bern and Geneva, was looking for signals from exoplanets that are located in the so-called habitable zone of Barnard's star.

This is the region where water can exist in a liquid state on the planet's surface. This condition is considered necessary for the emergence of life.

But this is not the case with Barnard B, as the new exoplanet is named: its surface temperature is 125 degrees Celsius. According to researchers at the University of Bern, this discovery is still important.

“The discovery of Barnard B is important not only because it is one of the smallest exoplanets we have discovered so far, but also because it is located in our stellar neighborhood,” said Yann Alibert, co-director of the Center for Space and Habitability. From the University of Bern, according to the report.

“This gives us a unique opportunity to study planets near us and better understand their composition and movement within a planetary system.”