Universe is a deep mystery, and astronomers and other experts are constantly trying to unravel some secret through their research. In a recent study, it was discovered that there exists a hot and rocky exoplanet known as super-Earth. This planet is in the Milky Way galaxy and is believed to be one of the oldest stars in the galaxy.
According to a report published in the CNNthe super-earth is called an exoplanet because it is located outside the solar system. The reason behind the name is that the super-earth has three times the mass of the earth and is about 50% larger than the earth. This planet is also known as TOI-561b.
According to experts, the super-Earth can complete one orbit around its star in less than half an Earth day. As for the temperature of this planet, it is somewhere around 3140+ degrees Fahrenheit. The surface temperature is due to the proximity to the star. Stephen Kane, co-author and astrophysicist at the University of California, Riverside, confirmed the winning time in a statement. He mentioned that for every day that a person spends on Earth, the exoplanet orbits its star twice.
The next obvious question that arises here is how this planet named TOI-561b was discovered. The experts discovered this planet through the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, launched in 2018 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The said planet was found in the thick galactic disk of the Milky Way galaxy. To be completely sure of their finding, the experts went to WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii to determine the mass, radius and density of the super-earth. Understanding the mass and radius helps astronomers to learn more about its internal structure.
Their findings were shocking when they discovered that although the mass of the planet is three times that of Earth, its density is almost the same. Stephen Kane responded by saying, “This is surprising because one would expect the density to be higher.”
He also mentioned that this planet is incapable of supporting habitable life. Stephen added that knowledge of the inside of the planet helps to understand whether the surface of the planet is habitable or not. “While this planet is unlikely to be inhabited today, it could be a harbinger of many rocky worlds yet to be discovered around the oldest stars of our galaxy,” he added.