2024-08-19 16:17:45
A rocky planet like Earth has been discovered, located at the ideal distance from its star to allow a temperature range compatible with the existence of seas and other bodies of liquid water on its surface. Such a scenario meets many of the conditions suitable for the existence of life.
The discovery is the work of an international team of scientists led by Georgina Dransfield of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. The main observations were made with NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite). Complementary observations have been carried out using the Gemini South astronomical observatories, the Las Cumbres astronomical observatory, the TRAPPIST South astronomical observatory, the ExTrA telescopes and the SPECULOOS network.
The planet is called TOI-715 b, is about 50 percent larger than Earth and orbits a red dwarf star.
With its discovery, TOI-175 b joins the list of planets located in the habitable zone around their star that can be observed in greater detail by the Webb Space Telescope.
The habitable zone around a star is one in which the prevailing heat is neither excessive nor insufficient to allow the existence of liquid water on the surface of a suitable planet.
According to some indications, a second planet could exist in the same solar system, smaller than the one now discovered but slightly larger than Earth. This second planet could also be at an ideal distance from its star to allow the existence of liquid water on its surface.
For a planet orbiting a red dwarf to enjoy a similar temperature range on its surface to that of Earth, it must be much closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun, because red dwarfs emit less heat.
The shorter a planet’s orbit around its star, the more often it will make a full orbit around the star. If the planet’s orbit takes it to pass in front of the star from Earth’s perspective, it will be much easier to detect when such passes in front of the star occur often than when there is a long time between them.
In the case of the planet TOI-175 b, it passes in front of its star once every 19 days. This made it much easier to detect and has allowed it to be observed in front of its star with sufficient frequency.
Observing an Earth-sized planet passing in front of its Sun-like star, with the planet taking 365 days to orbit the star, is beyond the capabilities of existing space telescopes.
Source: NCYT by Amazings