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New planet discovered by NASA’s probe
Why is it in news?
- NASA’s latest planet-hunting probe has discovered a new world outside our solar system, orbiting a dwarf star 53 light years away.
- This is the third new planet confirmed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) since its launch in April 2018.
HD 21749b
- HD 21749b: The planet, named HD 21749b, orbits a bright, nearby dwarf star about 53 light years away, in the constellation Reticulum.
- It appears to have the longest orbital period of the three planets so far identified by TESS.
- Slow journey: HD 21749b journeys around its star in a relatively leisurely 36 days as compared to the two other planets —(1) Pi Mensae b, a “super-Earth” with a 6.3-day orbit.(2) LHS 3844b, a rocky world that speeds around its star in just 11 hours.
- All three planets were discovered in the first three months of TESS observations.
- The planet is about three times the size of the earth, which puts it in the category of a “sub-Neptune.”
Source
The Hindu