Story perspectives

New Rocky Super-Earth Discovered in Habitable Zone

11/24/2025

Summary

Story summary

Astronomers at the University of California, Irvine discovered GJ 251 c, a rocky super-Earth 18 light-years away in its star’s habitable zone, a candidate for direct imaging with the Thirty Meter Telescope.
Radial velocity signals confirmed the planet via the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) and NEID instruments.
The work was supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation, and researchers call for telescopes to verify properties and enable further studies.

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Story summary

Astronomers at the University of California, Irvine discovered GJ 251 c, a rocky super-Earth 18 light-years away in its star’s habitable zone, a candidate for direct imaging with the Thirty Meter Telescope.
Radial velocity signals confirmed the planet via the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) and NEID instruments.
The work was supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation, and researchers call for telescopes to verify properties and enable further studies.