NASA discovers possibly habitable ‘super-Earth’

News

By Alyssa Guzman

Far-out!

NASA has discovered a “super-Earth” that may be habitable — and it’s “only” 137 light-years away.

“By astronomical standards, that’s not too bad!” the agency insisted on X about the planet dubbed TOI-715 b.

The planet is roughly one and a half times bigger than Earth and completes a full orbit — or “one year” — in just 19 days, NASA revealed.

More promisingly, the space rock has a “conservative” habitable zone around its parent star, meaning it may form liquid water on its surface, which would be vital to support life forms.

A second, smaller planet might be nearby that measures only slightly bigger than Earth and it, too, might dwell inside the “conservative” habitable zone, NASA reported, saying the planet “might be making its appearance at just the right time.”

TOI-715 b circles a red dwarf, which is smaller and cooler than the sun. They’re known for being the “best bet for finding habitable planets,” NASA said.

“These planets make far closer orbits than those around stars like our sun, but because red dwarfs are smaller and cooler, the planets can crowd closer and still be safely within the star’s habitable zone,” the agency added.

The tighter orbits — in this case, 19 days — allow scientists to observe the planet more frequently.

One side of the planet always faces its star, meaning temperature differences could vastly differ.

Planet TOI-175 b joins the list of possibly habitable planets that the Webb telescope can scrutinize for signs of an atmosphere, the space company said.

Exoplanets are worlds located outside our solar system and have been studied by the James Webb Space Telescope since 2018.

“Much will depend on the planet’s other properties, including how massive it is and whether it can be classed as a “water world” — making its atmosphere, if present, more prominent and far less difficult to detect than that of a more massive, denser and drier world, likely to hold its lower-profile atmosphere closer to the surface,” NASA said.

The planet was discovered by a team of international scientists led by Georgina Dransfield of the UK’s University of Birmingham last month.