NASA has discovered a “super-Earth” that offers new hope in the search for planets capable of supporting life.

NASA Announced the discovery of a new exoplanet named TOI-715B, which is only 137 light-years away from Earth and orbits within the so-called “habitable zone” of its star. An exoplanet is a planet orbiting a star outside our solar system. Some of them are located in the habitable zone of their respective stars, which could make them Candidates for hosting life,

The discovery, conducted by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (Tess), represents a significant advance in Search for suitable atmospheric conditions to support life Outside the solar system. Research on this “super-Earth” led to Georgina Dransfield of University of BirminghamWas published in the “Monthly Bulletin” of Royal Astronomical Society“Early January.

exoplanet TOI-715B Its dimensions are about 50% larger than Earth’s and it completes one orbit around its star, a red dwarf smaller and cooler than the Sun, in only 19 Earth days. ,The narrowness of its orbit facilitates its detection and frequent observation.“, tells NASA In a statement collected by ABC News, Additionally, this planetary system may host another Earth-sized planet within its “habitable zone”, which, if confirmed, would represent the smallest habitable planet ever discovered. Tess Till date.

“Many of these stars are known to host small rocky worlds. At the moment, they are Best way to find habitable planets, “The orbits of these planets are much closer than those of nearby stars like our Sun, but because red dwarfs are small and cool, the planets can be clustered together and still remain safely within the star’s habitable zone.” can live from,” the public NASA,

The “habitable zone” is defined as the region around a star where conditions allow existence. liquid water on the surface of a planetA necessary condition for life as we know it. “The super-Earth’s distance from its parent star may place it in a conservative habitable zone, where it would have the right temperatures for liquid water to persist on its surface,” he said. space agencyHowever he cautioned that many other factors would be necessary to make this scenario possible.

Since its launch in 2018, Tess The list of exoplanets in habitable zones has expanded, such as TOI-715Bwhich may be the subject of more detailed study James Webb Space Telescope Of NASA, This telescope is designed not only to detect exoplanets, but also “Explore the composition of their atmospheres, which may give clues about the possible presence of life” Cited USA Today,