Ophélie Artaud 3:33 p.m., January 12, 2023

This Tuesday, NASA announced that it had discovered a new exoplanet, spotted as part of the TESS mission.

This planet, located 100 light years from Earth, would also have similarities with the blue planet, in particular its size.

It is of particular interest to scientists because it is in the habitable zone of its star.

One more !

This Tuesday, NASA announced the discovery of a new potentially habitable exoplanet.

Called TOI 700 e, it was spotted as part of the TESS mission (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and is located 100 light years from Earth.

A rocky planet almost the same size as Earth

Scientists point out that it is located in the habitable zone of its star, TOI 700, within the constellation of Dorade, and that it is in orbit around it.

Three other exoplanets, that is to say planets located outside the solar system, had also been identified: TOI 700 b, TOI 700 c and TOI 700 d.

Discovery Alert


A second Earth-sized planet is found lurking in a nearby star's habitable zone.

It joins three other planets in a red dwarf system 100 light-years away in the Southern constellation Dorado.

https://t.co/82uDGPvgUtpic.twitter.com/oFRy2MQhNo

— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) January 10, 2023

If TOI 700 e is compared to the blue planet, it is because the two planets would be approximately the same size (95% according to Nasa), and it would also be rocky.

For scientists, a habitable zone is a region of space in which the appearance of life, as it exists on Earth, is possible, in particular due to the presence of water in liquid form on the surface.

For now, it is impossible to determine if there is water on this planet.

The European Space Agency discovers a new exoplanet

According to NASA, TOI 700 e takes 28 days to circle its star.

It would therefore be much closer than the Earth, which takes 365 days to go around the Sun.

For the US space agency, "this makes TOI 700 a system with an interesting prospect for further follow-ups. We found that planet e is 10% smaller than planet d, so this also shows how the observation system TESS allows us to find smaller and smaller worlds", explains Emily Gilbert, researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and head of this study.

But TOI 700 e is not the only exoplanet to have been discovered in recent days.

This Wednesday, the European Space Agency (ESA) also announced that it had spotted LHS 475b, a planet located 41 light years from Earth, thanks to the James Webb telescope.

New discoveries that should allow us to know a little more about the universes that surround us.

LHS 475 b is relatively close, at only 41 light-years away, in the constellation Octans.

We don't yet know *if* it has an atmosphere, but @NASAWebb was already able to rule out a thick atmosphere.

The telescope will study this planet this summer to tell us more!

pic.twitter.com/eMZfQD5Jj3

— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) January 11, 2023