NEW DISCOVERED EARTH-LIKE PLANET IS PERFECTLY PLACED TO HAVE WATER

A recently found exoplanet, which is 137 light-years away from Earth and relatively nearby space standards, has been made public by NASA. This super-Earth is 1.5 times wider than our planet and is situated in the habitable zone of its parent star. Its position on its star may allow liquid water to form on its surface, which makes the discovery intriguing. The exoplanet TOI-715 b is a promising candidate for habitability, even though it would also require the right atmospheric conditions for surface water. The possibility that this zone also contains a second planet the size of Earth is even more intriguing.

The parent star of TOI-715 b is a tiny red dwarf, colder than our Sun. Because of the lower temperatures, small, rocky worlds more densely packed into the habitable zone are typically supported by this type of parent star. A closer orbit is another result of the lower temperatures. One complete "year" on this super-Earth only lasts 19 days. Because of this, it is much simpler to observe, and TESS (the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) was able to find the planet.

The results are only a small portion of recent research on exoplanets, which was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astrological Society in January. Astronomers can now examine them in-depth for the first time thanks to new space-based instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope. Webb's instruments cannot only identify them but also determine the makeup of their atmospheres. Understanding whether or not TOI-715 b can be properly categorised as a "water world" will depend on this information.