NASA Finds Super Earth Nearby
NASA detected a "Super Earth Not Too Far from Us" — a rocky planet larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune in a potentially habitable zone. Separately, astronomers discovered HD 137010 b, an Earth-size exoplanet that's already being considered as a high-priority target for JWST atmospheric studies.
The recently discovered "Super Earth," TOI-715 b, is approximately one and a half times wider than our own planet and has about three times the mass. It orbits a red dwarf star, which is smaller and cooler than our sun, allowing the planet to have a tight 19-day orbit and still be within the star's "conservative habitable zone." This zone is considered the most likely region for a planet to have the right temperature for liquid water to exist on its surface. The TOI-715 system is located 137 light-years away from Earth. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was able to detect TOI-715 b by observing the slight dimming of its star as the planet passed in front of it. There are also indications of a second, potentially Earth-sized planet within the same system. Separately, the Earth-sized exoplanet HD 137010 b orbits a K-type dwarf star 146 light-years away. Its year is remarkably similar to ours, with an orbital period of about 355 days. Despite being in its star's habitable zone, it's on the outer edge and receives significantly less energy than Earth, leading to an estimated surface temperature of around -68°C (-90°F). The initial signal for HD 137010 b was found in archival data from the Kepler K2 mission from 2017 and was first flagged by citizen scientists. The discovery was made from a single 10-hour transit event, and further observations are needed for confirmation.
