TOI-715 b

TOI-715 b is a super-Earth exoplanet in the habitable zone of its parent M-type star, TOI-715.^[1][2][3] The planet is 1.55 times larger than Earth, and is located at 0.083 astronomical units (12,400,000 km) from its star.^[4] The planet orbits in the habitable zone of its star and has an equilibrium temperature of 234 K (−39 °C).^[4] It was discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in 2023;^[5] according to the authors of the discovery paper, it is the first TESS discovery in the conservative habitable zone.^[4]

TOI-715 b

Discovery
Discovered by	Dransfield et al.
Discovery site	TESS
Discovery date	May 10, 2023
Detection method	transit
Orbital characteristics
Semi-major axis	0.083±0.0027 AU
Inclination	89.856°+0.018° −0.017°
Star	TOI-715
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	1.55±0.064 R🜨
Temperature	234±12 K (−39±12 °C)

NASA stated that the James Webb Space Telescope may be used in the future to look for evidence of water or planetary atmosphere.^[6] Additionally, there may be a second exoplanet in the same system, TIC 271971130.02, that, if confirmed, would be the smallest known habitable-zone exoplanet.^[6]

Conservative habitable zone

The concept of "conservative habitable zone" was defined by Koparappu et al. in 2014. It is the region where the planet receives insolation equivalent to 0.42 to 0.842 times the insolation received from Earth by the Sun.^[7] As TOI-715 b has a insolation of 0.67+0.15
−0.20 S_🜨, it is located inside the conservative habitable zone.^[4]

TOI-715

Main article: TOI-715

TOI-715 is a red dwarf star located 42 parsecs (140 ly) from the Earth in the constellation Volans,^{[note 1]} very close to the southern celestial pole.^[4] The star is smaller and cooler than the Sun and has an apparent magnitude of 16.7 and is too faint to be seen with the naked eye or even a small telescope.^[9]

Further reading

• Jain, Vrinda (February 5, 2024). "NASA discovers potentially habitable 'super-Earth' 137 Light-Years Away". Hindustan Times.
• Sarnoff, Leah (February 5, 2024). "NASA announces new 'super-Earth': Exoplanet orbits in 'habitable zone,' is only 137 light-years away". ABC News.
• Schwenck, Lennart (February 6, 2024). "Auf der Suche nach Leben: Forscher entdecken Super-Erde in bewohnbarer Zone" [In search for life, researchers find super-Earth in habitable zone]. Münchner Merkur (in German). Munich.
• Messier, Ashlyn (February 7, 2024). "NASA announces potentially habitable 'super-Earth,' only 137 light-years away". Fox News.

Notes

1. Obtained with a right ascension of 07^h 35^m 24.26^s and a declination of −73° 34′ 38.83″^[8] on this website.