NASA has found a ‘super-Earth’ 137 light years away that could have the perfect conditions for alien life to live there.
The planet, named TOI-715 b, is one and a half times bigger than Earth and circles a small, red star that might be the perfect temperature for water to form – which is really important for life.
Astronomers are now going to study TOI-715 b’s features and atmosphere to see if it could have another planet nearby.
Exoplanets are planets that are outside our solar system. Scientists have been studying them since 2018 using tools like NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which helps them find new worlds and learn about them.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was launched six years ago to watch these ‘transiting’ planets, which go around stars like our sun.
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Researchers have said that if they can confirm this second Earth-like planet within TOI-175 b’s orbit, it would be the smallest habitable zone planet discovered by TESS so far.
NASA stated: “Planet TOI-175 b joins the list of habitable-zone planets that could be more closely scrutinized by the Webb telescope, perhaps even for signs of an atmosphere.
“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.”
While the super-Earth’s findings are unique in many ways, exoplanets themselves are not unusual. NASA has discovered more than 5,000 of these planets and confirmed there are likely over a trillion exoplanets in the Milky Way alone.
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