NASA Discovers "Super-Earth", A Potentially Habitable Planet, Located 137 Light-Years Away
NDTV
The planet circles a red dwarf, which is smaller and cooler than the Sun.
American space agency NASA has discovered a "super-Earth", a planet that could potentially support life. It is located 137 light-years away. Announcing the same in a press release, they said, "A 'super-Earth' ripe for further investigation orbits a small, reddish star that is, by astronomical standards, fairly close to us - only 137 light-years away. The same system also might harbour a second, Earth-sized planet."
The planet is dubbed TOI-715 b and is around one and a half times as wide as Earth, and orbits within the "conservative" habitable zone around its parent star, possibly indicating that it may form liquid water on its surface, as per NASA. It completes a full orbit (a year) in just 19 days.
"Several other factors would have to line up, of course, for surface water to be present, especially having a suitable atmosphere. But the conservative habitable zone - a narrower and potentially more robust definition than the broader 'optimistic' habitable zone - puts it in prime position, at least by the rough measurements made so far. The smaller planet could be only slightly larger than Earth, and also might dwell just inside the conservative habitable zone," they added.
