Facts for Prelims (FFP)
Source: Sci.News
Context: Astronomers utilizing data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have identified a super-Earth exoplanet, TOI-715b, orbiting the nearby red dwarf star TOI-715 in the constellation of Volans.
- This planet, approximately 1.5 times the width of Earth, resides within the habitable zone of its parent star, suggesting conditions suitable for liquid water.
About TESS:
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a NASA space telescope that searches for exoplanets. TESS was launched on April 18, 2018, and is designed to search for exoplanets around 200,000 nearby stars.
An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star outside of our solar system. The word “exoplanet” comes from the term “extrasolar planet”, which means it exists beyond the influence of our star.
