Named TOI-715 b, this “super-Earth” is 1.5 times larger than Earth and 137 light-years away from our planet.
A new “super-Earth,” orbiting its star in the habitable zone, has been discovered by an international team of researchers, NASA reported on its website in late January.
The team behind the research, led by English scientist Georgina Dransfield of the University of Birmingham, published their results in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietySpecializing in the fields of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Named TOI-715 b, this super-Earth is 1.5 times larger than Earth and is 137 light years away from our planet. It orbits a red dwarf, a small and reddish star in its habitable zone. That is, it is at a distance necessary to form water on its surface.
19-Day Revolution
It appears that TOI-715 b is a rocky planet. Which means it orbits very close to its star. But this is not dangerous because the star in question is a red dwarf, which is smaller and less hot, NASA explains. Due to closer gravity, it orbits its star more rapidly. It completes its revolution in 19 days compared to 365.25 days for Earth.
It is not yet known if the “super-Earth” is actually habitable and has water vapor in its atmosphere – or if it has an empty atmosphere. But still it joins the list of planets that are of interest to the scientific world.
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