Potentially habitable planet found 146 light-years away after citizen scientists unearth signal

A faint signal was initially detected by a team of citizen scientists — including the study’s first author, Alexander Venner, when he was still a high school student

An artist's illustration of the Earth-size planet HD 137010 b which could have a surface temperature of below -70C. Picture: Nasa

Astronomers have discovered a potentially habitable new planet about 146 light-years away which is Earth-sized and has conditions similar to Mars.

The candidate planet, named HD 137010 b, orbits a Sun-like star and is estimated to be 6% larger than Earth. An international team of scientists in Australia, the UK, the US, and Denmark identified the planet using data captured in 2017 by the Nasa Kepler space telescope’s extended mission, known as K2.