It is not unexpected that we continue to discover something in the vastness of space after gazing up at the sky for thousands of years. We are learning new things about heavenly bodies virtually every day thanks to advances in technology.
Now, researchers have discovered a ‘super earth.’ It is an exoplanet that is almost ten times Earth’s size. The sizeable exoplanet is only 200 light years away from Earth, which is a reasonably close distance.
The exoplanet was found by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The exoplanet’s official name is TOI-1075b. It is thought to be stony, not gaseous and has a radius that is 1.8 times that of the Earth. Though the planet is rocky, its close proximity to its star means that its surface is covered with molten lava.
NASA announced discovery of TOI-1075b on its website on November 8.
‘New data shows that TOI-1075b is one of the most massive super-Earths discovered so far,’ said NASA
‘Super-Earths the size of TOI-1075b, models suggest, normally would be expected to have a fairly thick atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. But this planet’s dense composition and scorchingly tight orbit make such an atmosphere unlikely… That makes TOI-1075 b a ‘keystone planet’ – among only a few others so far with precise enough measurements of size and mass to help scientists fine-tune their models of planet formation,’ it added.
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