A record-breaking super-Earth has been discovered, one of the most massive – Space & Astronomy

A record-breaking super-Earth has been discovered, one of the most massive – Space & Astronomy

Discovery of a record for a super-Earth: It is one of the most massive planets ever seen, with a radius twice the diameter of our planet and a mass 10 times greater. The sighting of this strange planet, called TOI-1075 b, is from NASA’s Tess Space Telescope (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) andElement The report of his discovery has been accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. The new giant Earth, about 200 light-years away, revealed extreme properties: due to its proximity to its star, its surface temperature is about a thousand degrees, it is covered in molten magma and lasts only one year half a day. , which means that it takes only 14.5 hours to complete a full revolution around the orb.

Tess found the planet thanks to the transit method. To detect distant celestial bodies, a telescope scans the night sky for changes in brightness: if a star’s light fades periodically, this may indicate a planet blocking the light as it passes. This technology has already enabled TESS, which launched in 2018, to discover more than 5,000 exoplanets, a milestone celebrated earlier this year.

Based on its mass, TOI-1075 b should have an atmosphere composed of hydrogen and helium, but in this case the researchers consider unlikely. But the alternative could be more fantastic: “The planet could be completely devoid of an atmosphere,” the study authors commented, “it could be composed of metal vapors and silicates (a class of minerals) due to the magma surrounding, or — the researchers add — there could also be an atmosphere.” very thin consisting of hydrogen and helium or carbon dioxide.

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