Scientists have found a new exoplanet called TOI-1452 b. The exoplanet, which is thought to have a thick coating of water, is around 100 light-years from Earth.
An "Ocean World," TOI-1452 b, was found by a team of researchers at the Université de Montréal. According to CNET, it is thought to be circling a binary star system tucked away in the Draco constellation.
This month's edition of The Astronomical Journal contains research on the recently found exoplanet. Charles Cadieux, the study's team leader, made the finding of this new exoplanet public this week.
Scientists Find an Ocean World That Could Support Life
According to the experts, TOI-1452 b is almost 70% bigger than Earth. According to BGR, it would need to be nearly five times as big to "spin to the rhythm of seven Earth days,"
The study suggests that given the exoplanet has liquid water on its surface, its temperature is probably neither too high nor too low.
According to BGR, TOI-1452 is likewise situated at a favorable distance from its stars, which suggests that it could be able to host life. Scientists are unsure of the kind of species that would survive in such a "Ocean World." however.
Researchers added that the exoplanet's density "consistent with having an incredibly deep ocean."
The diversity of exoplanets is large — more than 800 planets outside the Solar System have been found to date, with thousands more waiting to be confirmed. Detection methods in this field are steadily and quickly increasing — meaning that many more exoplanets will undoubtedly be discovered in the months and years to come. As an international scientific organisation, the IAU dissociates itself entirely from the commercial practice of selling names of planets, stars or or even "real estate" on other planets or moons. These practices will not be recognised by the IAU and their alternative naming schemes cannot be adopted.
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According to NASA, the exoplanet may be a massive rock with little to no atmosphere. It could, however, contain a hydrogen and helium-based atmosphere.
"TOI-1452 b is one of the best candidates for an ocean planet that we have found to date," University of Montreal astrophysics Ph.D. studentCharles Cadieux said in a statement (per The Independent).
"Its radius and mass suggest a much lower density than what one would expect for a planet that is basically made up of metal and rock, like Earth," the researcher added.
James Webb Space Telescope to Study New Exoplanet
According to the team leader, TOI-1452 b has a far lower density than a planet composed primarily of metal and rock, like Earth, as shown by its radius and mass.
CBS News wrote that there are just 11 days in a year on TOI-1452 b, but it receives the same amount of light from its smaller, cooler star that Venus does from the sun. It is in the "habitable zone," which means that it may have highly sought-after liquid water on its surface despite its near orbit.
While oceans make up less than 1% of the mass of our planet, which is 70% water, water on TOI-1452 b, according to one simulation, might make up as much as 30% of its mass.
Researchers believe it may take some time for the James Webb Space Telescope to see TOI-1452 b, which, "in a stroke of good fortune," sits in the constellation Draco, a region of the sky that Webb can see for most of the year. Webb is on a quest to comprehend the origins of our universe.
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