Description
Another view of the exoplanet Teegarden's Star b. With an Earth Similarity Index (ESI) of 0.95 it is one of the theoretically most Earth-like exoplanets up to now, with emphasis on "theoretically". The ESI is a value, which is determined among other things also by model calculations. If the models are not correct, the "Earth similarity" is gone. Thus, it is not yet possible to determine beyond doubt the absence or presence of a "life-supporting" atmosphere.
Here, Teegarden's Star b is "Earth-like" and has developed life. This life could well be twice as old as life on Earth, since the parent star, Teegarden's Star, an ultra-cool small red dwarf, is about 8 billion years old. The vegetation is very dark in color to effectively absorb the star's predominantly infrared radiation and use it for photochemical processes. There are also bioluminescent life forms that have learned to respond to the now rare bursts of radiation from Teegarden's Star and process the excess radiation. The visible light is very faint and distinctly yellow-orange in color. To our eyes, it is only about as bright as in a well-lit living room, even though the sun is in an almost cloudless sky. We also see Teegarden's Star c in the sky, the neighboring world. Now, in the phase of closest approach, it is about half the size of the moon as seen from Earth.
Terragen 4.7.02; Pixelmator 3.3.12