NASA’s TESS mission discovers six new exoplanets
NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has confirmed over 320 planets and helped in finding thousands of exoplanet candidates.
Six additional exoplanets, including 2 hot super Earths, have been discovered, according to NASA, bringing the total number of confirmed planets outside of our solar system to 5,502. This milestone marks an important accomplishment in the quickly developing field of exoplanet research, driven significantly by the TESS Mission.
Super-Earths are a class of exoplanets smaller than Neptune and Uranus in our solar system but larger than Earth. Because of their size, they might have greater plate tectonics and geologic activity than Earth. “Super-Earth” describes the mass; it says nothing about the surface’s characteristics or habitability.
Several methods, such as the transit method and the radial velocity method, were used to find the six new exoplanets. Among the noteworthy discoveries are:
HD 36384 b
A super-Jupiter planet circling a massive M giant star, which is over 40 times bigger than the Sun. discovered using the radial velocity method, which picks up on the “wobble” of far-off stars caused by the planets’ orbits.
TOI-198 b
A possibly rocky planet circling an M dwarf star on the innermost rim of the habitable zone. This was found by the transit method, which tracks them as they move in front of their home stars. Due to their relative coolness and dimness, M dwarf stars enable planets to circle significantly closer while remaining in the habitable zone.
TOI-2095 c as well as b
The same M dwarf star is orbited by two massive, hot super-Earth planets. Both were found using the transit method. These kinds of hot super-Earths are distinguished by their brief orbital periods and extremely heated surfaces, which are frequently hot enough to melt silicate rock. Finding two hot super-Earths orbiting the same star is a very rare occurrence that offers a chance to investigate the creation and development of these kinds of planetary systems.
TI-4860 b
A “hot Jupiter” gas giant with a mass of Jupiter circles an M dwarf star every 1.52 days. found using the transit approach.
MWC 758 c
A massive protoplanet is carving spiral arms into its young host star’s protoplanetary disk.
found using direct imaging methods.
With the discovery of these six planets, the overall count of confirmed exoplanets has risen above 5,500. Just over 30 years have passed since the first exoplanets near the pulsar PSR B1257+12 were verified in 1992 when this incredible milestone was reached.
The development of increasingly advanced instruments and observatories has propelled the field of exoplanet science to remarkable breakthroughs. Launched in 2018, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has confirmed over 320 planets and helped in finding thousands of exoplanet candidates.
In the future, projects like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2027, will continue to push the limits of exoplanet identification and classification. Utilizing cutting-edge methods, the Roman Coronagraph Instrument on board will directly scan and investigate exoplanets, possibly even revealing signs of life.
“From zero exoplanet confirmations to over 5,500 in just a few decades, this new milestone marks another major step in the journey to understand the worlds beyond our solar system,” said the NASA announcement.
“The field of exoplanet science has exploded since the first exoplanet confirmation in 1992, and with evolving technology, the future for this field looks brighter than ever,” the NASA announcement concluded.
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