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GJ 257d is 31 light years from Earth (illustration image). NASA / JPL-Caltech

An international team of astronomers announced Thursday August 1 to have discovered a new solar system that includes a potentially habitable planet.

This incredible discovery was made thanks to the data provided by NASA's TESS satellite, in orbit since last April. He has already identified dozens of exoplanets, but this one is probably the most interesting.

Located 31 light-years away from Earth, it is part of a solar system composed of a red dwarf, a small star in the cooling phase, and two other planets. The latter, very close to their sun, are too hot on the surface to be habitable.

► To re-read: What do exoplanets look like?

On the other hand, GJ 257d - as the astrophysicists have called it - is at a good distance and if it has a sufficiently dense atmosphere, the temperature on its surface could be conducive to the presence of liquid water, element indispensable for the development of life.

According to the researchers, if a life form actually exists on this planet, it could be detectable with the next generation of telescopes.