Every year, it seems like the idea of humans leaving planet Earth to establish colonies in space moves ever closer.

Sure right now it’s the stuff of science fiction, but with every advancement we take a step toward an extra-terrestrial future.

But there’s one big question mark that needs solving before these plans can become anything more than fantasy: where exactly would we live?

There are plenty of candidates, but in reality, it needs to be a planet (or some kind of spacecraft) within a Goldilocks Zone (either our own, or another) – which in our solar system leaves Mars. However, an interdisciplinary team of researchers have another option.

In a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the research team proposes an exoplanet known as HD 137010 b (so called because it orbits star HD 137010) as a viable option for several reasons.

The recently discovered exoplanet is close in size to the Earth, and is within it’s star’s habitable zone, meaning that liquid water would be possible on the planet’s surface. However, apart from the fact that we know little else about the planet and its atmosphere, there are two potential complications.

First, HD 137010 b is likely to be very cold. In fact, in a NASA article, it is noted that the exoplanet receives less than a third of the light Earth receives from the Sun, meaning that it’s quite likely to be as freeze-prone as Mars.

Second, though it has been recently spotted from Kepler data, we can’t be 100% sure that it actually exists – not yet, anyway.

However, any viable option is worth exploring as we move our space programmes into the future (and as we continue to ravage the planet our species – along with 8.7 million others – calls home).

Researchers will continue to track the planet’s transits using Kepler data – which thus far has proven that the exoplanet has a similar orbital period to our own – to learn more about this potential home, since its mere discovery is a significant breakthrough, as the authors explain in their paper:

“This is the first planet candidate with Earth-like radius and orbital properties transiting a Sun-like star bright enough for substantial follow-up observations.”

Who knows, maybe this could be our species’ new home. Or, perhaps there could be life there already.

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