As of: February 1, 2024, 4:01 p.m
By: Lennart Schwenck
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The exoplanet TOI-715 b is a “super-Earth”.
It could potentially be habitable and is not that far from Earth.
Birmingham - Our galactic neighborhood may hold another treasure: a recently discovered "super-Earth" called TOI-715 b could hold the key to new insights into exoplanets.
What's special: TOI-715 b is at a distance from a star that researchers have declared to be a habitable zone.
A team of scientists led by Georgina Dransfield from the University of Birmingham published their findings on TOI-715 b in the journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
in January 2024 .
Confirmation of the discovered exoplanet came through an international collaboration of institutions including Gemini-South, the Las Cumbres Observatory, the ExTrA telescopes, the SPECULOOS network and the TRAPPIST South Telescope.
This illustration shows what the planet TOI-715 b, a super-Earth in the habitable zone around its star, might look like to a nearby observer.
© NASA/JPL Caltech
TOI-715 b: Researchers excited about the possibility of studying Earth-like worlds in more detail
The "super-Earth" called TOI-715 b orbits a red dwarf star just 137 light-years from Earth.
TOI-715 b is about one and a half times larger than Earth, and it lies within what is known as the “conservative” habitable zone around its red dwarf star.
According to NASA,
this zone marks
the optimal distance that could allow a planet to have liquid water on its surface - a key component for the existence of life as we know it.
Planet Earth: Unique in the Universe?
© Imago Images
TOI-715 b may have appeared at the right time because its parent star, a red dwarf, is smaller and cooler than our Sun.
Red dwarfs are considered promising candidates for the search for habitable planets, especially small, rocky worlds.
The challenge for astronomers now is to write a new chapter in our understanding of exoplanets.
Modern space telescopes, in particular NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, play a crucial role in this.
Studying atmospheres could provide clues to the possibility of life, help us better understand the diversity of planets beyond our solar system, or even create additional habitats for humanity.
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