Scientists discover two new “super-Earth” planets
Scientists discover two new "super-Earth" planets - foto twitter
Scientists have discovered two new “super-Earth” planets just 100 light-years away. Both are significantly larger than our own planet Earth – and one of them may even be suitable for life.
According to NASA, super-Earths are a unique class of exoplanets in the solar system that are more massive than our planet. They are made of some combination of gas and rock and can be up to 10 times the mass of Earth.
The research and findings will be published in the Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Both newly discovered planets orbit LP 890-9, a “relatively low-activity” red dwarf star that, according to NASA, typically has a narrow habitable zone.
The first planet, LP 890-9b or TOI-4306b, is about 30% larger than our planet Earth with a radius of more than 5,200 miles and orbits its sun in just 2.7 days.
Great team happy to be part and to annonce #speculoos2 https://t.co/qE1NSJyC7C
— Didier Queloz (@DidierQueloz) September 8, 2022
The second planet, LP 890-9c, or SPECULOOS-2c, lies slightly further away from its star than the first planet. It is about 40% larger than Earth with a radius of over 5,400 miles and takes about three times as long as its neighboring planet to orbit its star. (Web desk)
