Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have proven for the first time that there is a planet that goes around another star. NASA has given the planet the name LHS 475 b and says that it is almost exactly the same size as Earth.

The diameter of LHS 475 b is about 99 percent of that of Earth. With Webb’s accurate light curve, the scientists were able to confirm that the planet orbits its star once every two days. But even though the planet is closer to its star than any other planet in our solar system, it orbits a red dwarf star that is less than half as hot as the Sun.

After carefully looking over the targets of interest from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, the research team decided to use the Webb telescope to look at the target location. The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRCam) on the space observatory was able to get a clear picture of the planet in just two transit observations.

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“These first observations from a rocky planet about the size of Earth open up many new ways to study the atmospheres of rocky planets with Webb.” “Webb is bringing us closer and closer to a new understanding of Earth-like worlds outside our solar system, and the mission is just getting started,” said Mark Clampin, a member of the research team, in a press release. On Wednesday, the results of the study were shown to the press at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).

NASA says that Webb is the only telescope that can figure out what the atmospheres of planets like Earth that orbit faraway stars are like. Webb is sensitive enough to pick up a variety of molecules in the atmosphere of LHS 475 b, but scientists have not yet come to any firm conclusions. In fact, the planet might not even have an atmosphere.

Discovery Alert! 📣
A second Earth-sized exoplanet is found hiding in a star’s habitable zone! A year there, one orbit, takes 28 days. It joins three other worlds in the system 100 light-years from Earth. https://t.co/qCYoMQnKs3 pic.twitter.com/JKi7dBB8Wt

— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) January 13, 2023

Even though they can’t say what is in the atmosphere of the planet yet, they can say what isn’t there. For example, they know that the planet doesn’t have a thick atmosphere made mostly of methane like Saturn’s moon Titan does.

But one of the most interesting things about the research is that it makes it possible to find more Earth-sized planets that live on land. This ability could help in the search for other planets that could support life.

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NASA’s best spacecraft for finding planets has found a second world that is about the same size as Earth and may be able to keep water liquid. Both worlds orbit the same star.

Since its launch in April 2018, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has found 285 confirmed exoplanets and more than 6,000 candidates. One of the most interesting confirmed planets is called TOI 700 d. It is about the same size as Earth and is in the habitable zone of its star. Now, scientists know that the planet has a neighbour that is just as interesting. They found this out when the Earth-orbiting telescope told them in October 2021 that it had seen something interesting.

Astronomers find 2nd Earth-size planet in intriguing alien solar system https://t.co/LZnBuRnDJE pic.twitter.com/idqqcZ8dpr

— All About Space (@spaceanswers) January 10, 2023

“When we first looked at it, we thought, ‘Is this real?'” A NASA astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, Emily Gilbert, told Space.com. Gilbert and her coworkers will talk about their research at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society, which is being held in Seattle and online this week.

NASA’s best spacecraft for finding planets has found a second world that is about the same size as Earth and may be able to keep water liquid. Both worlds orbit the same star.

Since its launch in April 2018, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has found 285 confirmed exoplanets and more than 6,000 candidates. One of the most interesting confirmed planets is called TOI 700 d. It is about the same size as Earth and is in the habitable zone of its star. Now, scientists know that the planet has a neighbour that is just as interesting. They found this out when the Earth-orbiting telescope told them in October 2021 that it had seen something interesting.

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“When we first looked at it, we thought, ‘Is this real?'” A NASA astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, Emily Gilbert, told Space.com. Gilbert and her coworkers will talk about their research at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society, which is being held in Seattle and online this week.

Scientists were already comparing the system to TRAPPIST-1, which is 39.5 light-years away and has seven Earth-sized planets. “It’s a really interesting way to compare the two,” Gilbert said. She said that because TRAPPIST-1 is a brighter and more active star, it will be easier to keep studying the TOI 700 system. “The TRAPPIST system is very, very close; all those planets are packed in there very, very tightly.”

Now, Gilbert and her coworkers say that TOI 700 d has an interesting third sibling. This planet, which astronomers have named TOI 700 e, isn’t quite in what is usually called the habitable zone, but this term is still changing. Astronomers have learned that Venus and Mars probably both had water on their surfaces in the past. Because of this, some have proposed a “optimistic” habitable zone, which is where TOI 700 e is located.

Gilbert and her colleagues think that TOI 700 e is about 95% the size of Earth. This means that it is probably made of rocks and goes around the sun once every 28 Earth days, which puts it between TOI 700 c and d. The new planet is also likely to be tidally locked, which means that it always shows the same side to its star.

“That’s most of what we know right now based on TESS data alone, but we do have other projects going on to learn more about this,” Gilbert said. “We haven’t seen any results yet, but good things are on the way.”

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