Astronomers are discovering Earth-like exoplanets in habitable zones around nearby stars, with a super-Earth candidate called GJ 251 c just 18 light-years away emerging as a prime target for detecting life. New seismic and geological evidence is reshaping our understanding of how terrestrial planets form and evolve, from Mars's internal structure to the role of giant impacts during planetary accretion.
·GJ 251 c, a super-Earth 18 light-years away, sits in the habitable zone of a red dwarf star
·Seismic data reveals Mars has a melt-depleted lower crust with transcrustal magmatism
·Rare meteorite provides fresh evidence about giant impacts during early planet formation
·Giant impacts fundamentally shaped thermal and rotational properties of terrestrial planets during accretion
drawn from The Brighter Side of News, Astrobiology Web, Nature, Universe Today · updated 7h ago