Super-Earth Discovered in Habitable Zone of Nearby Star GJ 887 Just 10.7 Light Years Away

Scientists confirm GJ 887 d, a super-Earth in the habitable zone of a nearby red dwarf. At only 10.7 light years away, it's a prime target for life-hunting telescopes.

By: AXL Media

Published: May 1, 2026, 5:49 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from the RedDots Collaboration and the University of Göttingen

A Breakthrough in the Hunt for Nearby Worlds

The search for a "second Earth" has reached a significant milestone with the confirmation of a super-Earth orbiting the star GJ 887. Led by C. Hartogh from the University of Göttingen and the University of St Andrews, the RedDots collaboration utilized ultra-precise radial velocity measurements to identify a total of four planets in the system. The standout discovery, GJ 887 d, has a minimum mass approximately 6.5 times that of Earth. It orbits its host star every 51 days, placing it squarely within the region where temperatures may allow for the presence of surface liquid water.

The "Quiet" Advantage of Red Dwarf GJ 887

GJ 887 is an M dwarf, or red dwarf, the most common type of star in the Milky Way. While these stars are smaller and cooler than the Sun, they are often magnetically active, emitting violent flares that can strip the atmospheres of orbiting planets. However, GJ 887 is remarkably calm compared to its peers. Previous studies, including a 2020 report in Science, suggested the star is relatively inactive, making it an ideal laboratory for studying planetary habitability. This stability increases the likelihood that GJ 887 d could have retained an atmosphere capable of supporting life.

Sifting Through the Stellar Noise

The confirmation of GJ 887 d required disentangling tiny planetary signals from the natural "noise" of the star. The researchers added 101 new observations from the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) and 12 high-precision measurements from the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO). By using a Gaussian process—a sophisticated statistical tool—the team modeled the star's 39-day rotation and isolated the repeating Doppler shifts caused by the gravitational tug of the planets. This analysis revealed two previously unknown worlds, including a scorched Earth-mass planet (GJ 887 e) and the habitable-zone candidate.