NASA’s TESS Mission discovers exoplanet in our galaxy older than Sun

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered an exoplanet in the Milky Way galaxy.

Context

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered an exoplanet in the Milky Way galaxy.

What are the key points of the finding?

• Researchers believe it is 10 billion years old, more than twice as old as our Sun.
• The planet named TOI-561b orbiting outside our solar system is 1.5 times the size of the Earth, has more mass than Earth, but almost the same density.
• The planet orbits around its sun, which is located in the galactic thick disk, very quickly and completes it in about 12 hours.
• The study also mentions that the temperature on the planet’s surface reaches 1,726 degrees Celsius which makes it not suited for habitation.
• The unique finding about this ‘Super-Earth’ is its density, considering the size in comparison to Earth. However, older planets are less dense owing to the less quantity of heavy metals found on them.

What is TESS?

• NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is an all-sky survey mission that will discover thousands of exoplanets around nearby bright stars.
• TESS launched April 18, 2018 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.