TOI-1452 b exoplanet ‘one of the ocean world’s best candidates to date’

An international research team has discovered TOI-1452 b, an exoplanet roughly the size of Earth that could be 30 percent water and covered in a vast ocean. The exoplanet orbits a star in a binary system about 100 light-years away from us, and is one of the best candidates for an ocean planet, says Charles Cadiux of the University of Montreal, who led the analysis. NASA’s TESS space telescope found it, but only when the data was examined with other instruments did it become clear how interesting the celestial body was.

Significantly richer in water than fairly dry soil

After TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) discovered the possible exoplanet around TOI-1452, Cadiux not only confirmed basic data in follow-up observations. Through the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic (OMM) in Canada and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii, they were also able to establish that an exoplanet has about five times the mass of Earth.

Together with the specified radius, they reach a density much lower than on our Earth. From this they deducedThis – unlike our home planet – is almost not made up of rocks and minerals, but rather a lot of water. The proportion of water corresponds more closely to Jupiter’s moons Ganymede and Callisto and Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus.

The research team explains that even if it does not appear to us, Earth is a relatively dry planet. Although it covers about 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, less than one percent of the Earth’s mass is represented by biofluid. So TOI-1452 b must be very different from Earth. A year ago, two astronomers and an astronomer called for a focus on these water worlds in the search for extraterrestrial life.

TOI-1452 b is now scheduled to be explored further with the James Webb Space Telescope, due to its favorable position in the sky, it is possible at any time. Observation time will soon be reserved for observing this “weird and wonderful world”. search work Published in the astronomical magazine.

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