This new exoplanet has the potential to host life, according to NASA
A NASA satellite has discovered an interesting exoplanet. It is in the habitable zone of its star: neither too far nor too close.
For a planet to be considered habitable, it must be able to accommodate water in liquid form. This means that life is impossible if it is located too close to its star (the temperature is then too high and the water evaporates) or if it is too far from it (it is then too cold and the water freezes). But while scanning another solar system, a NASA satellite found a planet similar to our dear Earth . Be careful, this does not mean that it is populated by aliens!
TOI 700 th
Launched in 2018, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) aims to identify exoplanets close to our solar system. Indeed, as everyone knows, the Universe contains an incalculable number of stars, around which gravitate an incalculable number of planets… but not all of them are necessarily habitable.
However, NASA has just announced that its satellite has discovered a new exoplanet similar to Earth in several respects. On the one hand, it has roughly the same wingspan as our home planet (it is 95% of its size), and on the other hand, it is a perfect distance from its star . Her name ? YOU 700 e.
A solar system with great potential
Even more surprisingly, NASA explains that this exoplanet is not the only one in its solar system to have the potential to harbor life. Indeed, one of its neighbours, the TOI 700 d, is also located in this famous habitable zone which interests scientists, in addition to having a size similar to that of the Earth.
" It's one of the few systems with multiple small planets in the habitable zone that we know of," said Emily Gilbert of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Source: websites