Benoit Gougeon, University of Montreal Researchers in Canada have discovered an exoplanet – a planet orbiting another star – just 100 light-years from Earth that is possibly covered in water. TOI-1452 b orbits one of two small stars in a binary system located in the constellation Draco the Dragon. This is the northern sky as seen from Earth, near the Big Dipper. Published today in The Astronomical Journal, the study reveals a world slightly larger in size and mass than Earth and located in its star’s “habitable zone” between the frost line and the “boiling zone” where liquid water can exist. The authors think it could be an “ocean planet,” a planet completely covered by a thick layer of water. They compare it to Jupiter’s moons Ganymede and Callisto, and Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus, which are suspected of having global oceans below the surface. Its location is fortuitous because Draco is a circular constellation that is always visible at night in the northern sky. It is also close enough to study its atmosphere. “Our observations with the Webb telescope will be essential for a better understanding of TOI-1452 b,” said René Doyon, Professor at the University of Montreal and Director of the Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) and the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic ( OMM). who participated in the NIRISS component of the space telescope. “As soon as we can, we will book time on Webb to observe this strange and wonderful world.” Artist’s rendering of the surface of TOI-1452 b, which could be an “ocean planet,” meaning a … [+] planet covered entirely by a thick layer of liquid water. Benoit Gougeon, University of Montreal Found by NASA’s TESS space telescope and studied at OMM, TOI-1452 b is nothing like Earth. The study reveals a planet that is about 70% larger than Earth. It orbits one of two red dwarf stars that, in turn, orbit each other. This may sound strange, but it is much more common than the only star in our solar system. It took more than 50 hours of observation to estimate the planet’s mass, which is believed to be nearly five times that of Earth. Scientists believe it is rocky, like Earth, but instead of water making up 1% of Earth’s mass, in TOI-1452 b it can be as much as 30%. It is thought that TOI-1452 b may be an example of a theoretical class of “ocean planets” that are between the size of Earth and Neptune and whose density can only be explained by the presence of a lot of water. “TOI-1452 b is one of the best candidates for an ocean planet we’ve found to date,” said Charles Cadieux, Ph.D. student at Université de Montréal and member of iREx. “Its radius and mass suggest a much lower density than would be expected for a planet composed primarily of metal and rock like Earth.” I wish you clear skies and open eyes.
