With a mass three times larger than Earth’s, the newly discovered world has the muscle to hold atmosphere. Plus, it has the gift of time. Not only is its parent star especially long-lived, the planet is tidally locked to its sun – similar to how the moon keeps the same side pointed at Earth – so that half the world is in perpetual light and the other half in permanent darkness. As a result, temperatures are extremely stable and diverse.

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Astronomers think they may have found an earth-like planet that could sustain life!

While that’s all well and good, I love the idea of a planet that is half daylight, half darkness all the time. I’m having a hard time even getting my brain wrapped around what life might have evolved to look like in such a scenario.