Astronomers have discovered a second planet similar in size to Earth near a star close to us. And there could be water and potentially even life.
Scientists from NASA have confirmed that another rocky exoplanet, similar to Earth, rotates near the red dwarf, which is located at a distance of 100 light years from us, where the year lasts only 28 days, writes CNN.
At Focus. Technology appeared its own Telegram channel. Subscribe to not miss the latest and exciting news from the world of science!
Red dwarfs are colder than our Sun stars, but they are the most not only in our galaxy, but in the entire Universe. It was near a red dwarf called TOI 700, which is located 100 light years from us, that scientists discovered the fourth exoplanet in its system.
The discovery was made using the TESS space telescope, which is designed to search for a planet outside the solar system. According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Emily Gilbert, this is the second rocky planet similar in size to Earth that has been found near the star TOI 700.
Planet TOI 700 e
Photo: CNN
This planet was named TOI 700 e and is only 5% smaller than our home planet in size. This rocky world revolves around its native star in the so-called habitable zone, that is, at such a distance that allows you to maintain a moderate temperature on the planet and allows water to exist in a liquid state on its surface. And if there can be water there, then this planet can potentially be inhabited now, or was such in the past. According to scientists, the planet TOI 700 e makes a complete revolution around its star in 28 days, which means that the year here lasts a little less than a month.
Other planets in the TOI 700 system
- Another rocky planet that is similar in size to Earth in this system is TOI 700 d. This exoplanet is about 20% larger than Earth, has a year of 37 days, and is also in the habitable zone of its star.
Also, scientists already know about the existence of two more planets in this star system, which can be called super-Earths, but they are very close to their star, and therefore they are not considered as potentially habitable.
Photo: SciTechDaily
- An exoplanet called TOI 700 b is closest to the red dwarf, it is 10% smaller than the Earth and the year here lasts only 10 days.
- Another planet is called TOI 700 c, it is 2.5 times the size of the Earth and the year here lasts only 16 days.
The most interesting thing is that both of these planets always face the star TOI 700 on the same side, like our Moon to the Earth. Therefore, it is always much hotter on one side of the planet than on the other.
In recent years, astronomers have found that many red dwarfs have planets orbiting them, and some of them are in the habitable zone, are rocky worlds, and are similar in size to Earth. One such example is the TRAPPIST-1 star system, which contains 7 exoplanets at once and will be monitored by the Webb Space Telescope.
calm star
Photo: wikipedia
This system is located at a distance of 39.5 light years from us, but here the star is more active, that is, constant flares and eruptions occur on it. And this can lead to a significant increase in the temperature of nearby planets. Given that the star TOI 700 is calmer, scientists call this star system very intriguing, because the planets here are not subject to the harsh influence of their star.
As for the planet TOI 700 e, scientists are not yet sure whether it is constantly facing the red dwarf on one side, or whether the stellar heat is evenly distributed throughout the planet. Astronomers are going to continue observing these planets in order to study in more detail the composition of their atmospheres, and especially exoplanets TOI 700 e and TOI 700 d.
Since 2018, the TESS space telescope has been looking for planets using the transit method, which consists in the fact that they can be detected due to a change in the brightness of the stars against which the planets pass.
Focus already wrote about the new study “hellish” super-Earth, which is located at a distance of 41 light years from us and the year here lasts a little more than two weeks. This exoplanet is considered a “real hell”, because it is covered with an ocean of magma and it is very hot here.
Same Focus wrote about another hot super earthwhich is located at a distance of 200 light years from us and the temperature here is more than 1000 degrees Celsius.
