The recent discovery of a nearby “super-Earth” exoplanet just 137 light-years from Earth has prompted scientists to look deeper into whether the planet has conditions capable of supporting life. NASA announced that.
The planet, called TOI-715 b, is about 1.5 times wider than Earth and orbits within a modest “habitable zone” around its parent star, NASA has confirmed. press release last week.
NASA defines the habitable zone as the distance from a star that can provide a planet with the right temperature for liquid water to form on its surface. Astronomers say that while other factors need to align for a planet to have the right atmosphere, the planet’s placement within this zone puts it in the “best position” relative to its parent star. He pointed out that.
Its parent star is a red dwarf star, which is smaller and cooler than Earth’s sun, allowing the planets to “pack closer together” and have tighter orbits. The agency said this orbit means that “one year” on the planet is equal to 19 Earth days, making it easier to discover and observed more frequently.
NASA announced that the planet was discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which was launched in 2018. TESS has discovered a series of other habitable zone exoplanets that can be observed more closely with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
The discovered system may also contain a second Earth-sized planet, which could also be just inside the conservative habitable zone. If confirmed, this would be the smallest habitable zone planet discovered by TESS to date, NASA noted.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
