5 times the size of Earth: Scientists have discovered a planet that may be completely covered in water

The star, given the not-so-catchy nickname TOI-1452b, is about 100 light-years away.

According to the researchers "it is one of the best candidates for an ocean world we have found so far"

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technology

06/09/2022

Tuesday, September 6, 2022, 09:38 Updated: 09:52

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Imaging of the planet TOI-1452b (Photo: Benoit Gougeon, Université de Montréal)

There is no limit to new discoveries about our universe, and now there is another impressive discovery:

an international team of astronomers has discovered a planet located outside the solar system that may be completely covered in water.

The star, named TOI-1452b, is about 100 light-years from Earth and orbits one of the two smaller stars in the binary system in the constellation Draco.

Charles Cadio, a PhD student at the University of Montreal and a member of the Institute for Exoplanet Research (iREx), is the one who led the study.

According to the researchers, the planet has a mass and size 5 times greater than the Earth and is an "ocean world" - it is completely covered by a thick layer of water.

This, just like some of the moons of Saturn and Jupiter.

"We were able to identify this unique planet thanks to OMM, a unique instrument called SPIRou designed in our laboratories, and through an innovative analytical method developed by our research team," says René Doyon, a professor at the University of Montreal.

The study was recently published in the Astronomical Journal.

Image: Earth-like planet (Photo: ShutterStock)

The researchers were able to track the star by NASA's TESS space telescope. The telescope showed a slight decrease in brightness every 11 days, leading the researchers to conclude that the planet is about 70% larger in radius than Earth. "We needed to make sure that the signal detected by TESS really Caused by a planet orbiting TOI-1452, the larger of the two stars in the binary system," says Cadio. Also, the way to determine the mass of the planet was with the help of SPIRou - a device that was installed in the telescope and is suitable for studying low-mass stars.

The planet TOI-1452 b is several times smaller than our Sun.

Although it is rocky like the Earth, it has a greater amount of water.

70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, but water makes up less than 1% of the Earth's mass.

According to the spectral analysis, 30% of the mass of the planet TOI-1452 b is made of water.

"TOI-1452 b is one of the best candidates for an ocean world we've found so far," Cadio says.

"Its radius and mass suggest a much lower density than would be expected from a planet that is basically composed of metal and rock, like Earth."

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