A new exoplanet about 1.2 times the size of Earth, but double Earth’s mass has been discovered by a multinational collective of nearly three dozen scientists saluting from the US, the UK, France, Chile, and China. An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System.
Researchers found the planet through data obtained from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a NASA-operated space telescope launched in April 2018. The new planet discovered, GJ1252 b orbits a red dwarf star, GJ1252, situated about 66.5 light-years from our Sun. The red star is estimated to have only about 40% the size and mass of our Sun.
The process of finding exoplanets is complicated as they are visible only for a fraction of time and are relatively small compared to Saturn or Jupiter, for example. Therefore it is more common to find more massive planets.
Compared to Earth, GJ1252 b zooms around its Red Dwarf sun very quickly, more specifically every 12.4 hours. Researchers assume that one of its sides is always facing its Sun.
Astronomers Found a New Exoplanet at 66.5 Light Years Away
Life on the newly discovered exoplanet GJ1252 b is debatable. However, the red dwarves are known to burn at a lower temperature of 3,500 degrees Celsius compared to our Sun burning at 5,500 degrees Celsius.
Thanks to its speedy orbit pattern and relative proximity to Earth, scientists can observe the small exoplanet and make more discoveries.
At the moment, Proxima Centauri b, which was confirmed in 2016, a planet orbiting the small, low-mass star Proxima Centauri, remains the closest-known planet from Earth, at a distance of some 4.244 light-years from our Solar Sun.
HD 219134, situated at 21.6 light-years from Earth, has six exoplanets, the highest number discovered for any star within this range. Based on current technology, reaching it would take over 81,000 years, unfortunately.