NASA probe discovers new planet

NASA probe discovers new planet

News:

NASA’s discovered new planet, named HD 21749b orbiting a dwarf star 53 light years away.

Important Facts:

• HD 21749 is a star that is approximately 68% the mass of and 76% the radius of the Sun
• The star has two exoplanets: a possibly rocky, hot sub-Neptune-sized exoplanet, named HD 21749b; and, a sub-Earth exoplanet, named HD 21749c
• This is the third new planet confirmed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) since its launch in April last year.
• The planet in the constellation Reticulum appears to have the longest orbital period of the three planets so far identified by TESS.
• Two other discovered planets are – Pi Mensaeb, a “super-Earth” with a 6.3-day orbit, and LHS 3844b, a rocky world that speeds around its star in just 11 hours.
• The surface of the new planet is likely around 300 degrees Fahrenheit relatively cool, given its proximity to its star, which is almost as bright as the sun.

About Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite

• The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a space telescope for NASA’s Explorers program, designed to search for exoplanets using the transit method in an area 400 times larger than that covered by the Kepler mission
• The primary mission objective for TESS is to survey the brightest stars near the Earth for transiting exoplanets over a two-year period.