NASA's TESS Discovers Potentially Habitable 'Super-Earth' TOI-715 b 137 Light-Years Away in January 2024

An international team of scientists, led by Georgina Dransfield from the University of Birmingham, UK, has discovered a 'Super-Earth' exoplanet, designated TOI-715 b, located 137 light-years from Earth. The discovery, made using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), reveals a planet approximately 1.5 times wider than Earth orbiting within the 'conservative' habitable zone of its parent star, a small, reddish star. This distance from the star could allow for liquid water to exist on the planet's surface, provided other factors, such as a suitable atmosphere, are also present. The same system may also harbor a second Earth-sized planet. The team published their findings in the journal *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society* in January 2024.