Satellite finds two Neptune-sized exoplanets 550 light years from Earth

2023-10-24 18:20:00

Through the analysis of data collected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, also known as TESS —NASA device specialized in the search for exoplanets—, a team of scientists with members from several countries identified two new exoplanets orbiting a star located 550 light years away from Earth.

Since 2018, when it began operating, the TESS has already managed to detect almost 7,000 potential exoplanets. Now, following a thorough review of the data obtained by the probe, the two new discoveries have been announced.

According to the research results, the new exoplanets fall into the categories of “hot Neptune” and “super-hot Neptune”, with sizes comparable to the most distant planet in the Solar System. The data was published in an article on the arXiv portal. So far, the satellite mission has managed to confirm regarding 395 of the 7,000 potential exoplanets.

TESS has been dedicated to mapping around 200,000 of the most luminous stars close to our Sun, with the aim of detecting transiting exoplanets.

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09 Out

One of these stars is an F-type dwarf called TOI-5126. Observations made by TESS between November 2021 and February 2022 were analyzed by a group of astronomers led by Tyler R. Fairnington, from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, who confirmed the existence of two exoplanet candidates orbiting this star.

Transit signals in the star’s light curve were identified, and the planetary nature of these signals was confirmed through follow-up observations, primarily using the European Space Agency’s (ESA) CHaracterizing ExOplanets Satellite (CHEOPS).

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