Out of around 4,200 planets discovered outside our solar system so far, most are bigger than Earth for the simple reason that it’s easier to spot a bigger planet as it impacts the environment around more than smaller planets. That’s why it’s special when small exoplanets come into the light, like the recently-discovered planet L 98-59b, which has half the mass of Venus.
The planet orbits the star L 98-59 and is just 35 light-years away from Earth. It is a part of a system of four or five planets that can be compared to the rocky planets of our solar system. The planet is the closest to its star and is also the smallest ever discovered with the help of the radial velocity method.
The star system is intriguing
It works by detecting a tiny wobble in the host star, which happens due to the gravity of the planet as it revolves around it. This detection was made with the aid of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), located in Chile.
The other planets in the system are also interesting. One of them could even be habitable, as it is in the habitable zone and is rocky like Earth and Venus.
Good place for further research
“The planet in the habitable zone may have an atmosphere that could protect and support life,” said María Rosa Zapatero one of the authors. This makes the system a good place for investigation using upcoming tools such as the James Webb Space Telescope.
“This system announces what is to come,” said lead author Olivier Demangeon of the University of Porto. “We, as a society, have been chasing terrestrial planets since the birth of astronomy, and now we are finally getting closer and closer to the detection of a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone of its star, of which we could study the atmosphere.”
Previously, NASA’s TESS discovered four young exoplanets, including one lava world that orbits very close to its star. TESS observed two young stars that are close to each other – TOI 2076 and TOI 1807. It discovered four exoplanets in orbit around them that are in a middle phase between birth and maturity.
