2023-05-18 13:14:22
TESS satellite finds new super-Earth type exoplanet with unusually low density
An international team of astronomers has reported that NASA’s TESS satellite has discovered a new super-Earth-type exoplanet with an unusually low density, according to a preprint article published in arXiv.
It is noted that it was possible to find the exoplanet TOI-244 b using the transit method, the essence of which is to identify the fall in the brightness of stars due to their passage against the background of large celestial bodies. So, scientists were able to detect a transit signal on the light curve of the red dwarf TOI-244, the planetary nature of which was confirmed by measurements of the radial velocity carried out by scientists using the ESPRESSO spectrograph, which is installed on the VLT telescope at the European Southern Observatory located in Chile.
According to the researchers, the radius of TOI-244 b is 1.52 times greater than the Earth’s, and its mass exceeds the mass of our planet by 2.68 times. The revolution of the planet around the red dwarf occurs every 7.4 days. Scientists have found that the exoplanet contains iron and silicates in proportions that are similar to those of Earth, but at the same time it is less dense than most super-Earths of similar sizes. According to experts, the lower density of TOI-244 b is due to the presence of a large number of volatile elements.
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