NASA’s groundbreaking discover of an earth-like exoplanet called TOI-715 b has got everyone talking. The exoplanet lies around 137 light years away from earth, orbiting around a “small, reddish, dwarf star” and was found by NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite). The system also most likely houses a second, smaller planet which possesses similar attributes like Earth, which if confirmed, will lead to the discovery of the “smallest habitable-zone planet” by TESS, so far.
The super-Earth is almost 1.5 times larger than earth and the astounding discovery was made by Dr. Georgina Dransfield of University of Birmingham and published in a January 2024 paper titled “A 1.55 R habitable-zone planet hosted by TOI-715, an M4 star near the ecliptic South Pole,” in the “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” journal.
What is CHS?
The bigger planet, TOI-715 b, is at a suitable distance from the dwarf star which allows a temperature range favorable for the existence of liquid water on its surface, thereby lying in a “conservative habitable zone” (CHS). As per Universe Today, a planet lying in a CHS means it gets around 0.42 to 0.842 of solar insolation.
Although further research is required to probe into the planet’s conditions to make conclusive claims, for example, having an equally suitable atmosphere, the discovery of the “conservative habitable zone” looks promising for now.
A Year on the Exoplanet Is Equal to 19 Earth Days, Says NASA
The National Aeronautical and Space Administration stated that owing to the short distance between the super-Earth and its parent star, which is smaller and cooler as compared to our Sun, the former completes its revolution in just 19 Earth-days.
NASA further said that the “tight orbits” make it easier to to detect and observe the exoplanets.
TESS has been very useful for providing insights into the world of exoplanets. Ever since its launch in 2018, the satellite has collected much valuable data with regard to the existence of a variety of exoplanets.
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