(ORDO NEWS) — An international team of astronomers has announced the discovery of two new exoplanets orbiting a nearby M-type dwarf star.
The planets, named LP 890-9 b and LP 890-9 c, are slightly larger than Earth. Information about the find was published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Super-Earths (super-Earths) are planets more massive than the Earth, but not exceeding the mass of Neptune.
Although this term only refers to the mass of a planet, it is also used by astronomers to describe planets larger than Earth but smaller than mini-Neptunes.
Astronomers led by Letitia Delres from the University of Liege in Belgium have discovered two new super-Earths.
They observed LP 890-9, a nearby M6V dwarf star, using NASA‘s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). This led to the discovery of the inner planet, which was designated LP 890-9 b.
Subsequent observations of this system with the Southern Observatory’s SPECULOOS led to the discovery of a second planet, LP 890-9 c.
LP 890-9 b has a radius of about 1.32 Earth radii, and its mass is estimated to be no more than 13.2 Earth masses.
The planet revolves around its star every 2.73 days and is at a distance of about 0.018 AU. from the parent star. The equilibrium temperature of LP 890-9 b is approximately 396 K.
The radius of LP 890-9 c is about 1.37 Earth radii. The mass of the planet is not expected to exceed 25.3 Earth masses.
The exoplanet is 0.04 AU away. from its parent star, and has an orbital period of about 8.46 days. The equilibrium temperature of the planet is estimated at 272 K.
The star LP 890-9 has a radius of about 0.15 solar radii, and its mass is 0.12 solar masses.
The effective temperature of the star is about 2871 K, and its luminosity is 0.00143 that of the Sun. LP 890-9 is located approximately 104 light years from Earth.
Summing up, astronomers indicate that LP 890-9 c is one of the most habitable terrestrial planets known at the moment.
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