NASA finds 'super earth' exoplanet with lava hellscape surface just 200 light years away

With our eyes at the sky for thousands of years, it is not surprising that we keep on finding something or the other in the wide expanse of space. With improved technology and knowledge, its almost every day we are making new discoveries about celestial bodies.

Scientists have now found a 'super earth'. It is an exoplanet almost 10 times the size of Earth. This gigantic exoplanet is situated at a relatively small distance of 200 light years from Earth.

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered the exoplanet. The exoplanet has been designated TOI-1075b. It's radius is 1.8 times that of Earth and it is believed to be rocky, not gaseous. Though the planet is rocky, its close proximity to its star means that its surface is covered with molten lava.

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NASA announced discovery of TOI-1075b on its website on November 8.

"New data shows that TOI-1075b is one of the most massive super-Earths discovered so far," said NASA

"Super-Earths the size of TOI-1075b, models suggest, normally would be expected to have a fairly thick atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. But this planet's dense composition and scorchingly tight orbit make such an atmosphere unlikely...That makes TOI-1075 b a "keystone planet" - among only a few others so far with precise enough measurements of size and mass to help scientists fine-tune their models of planet formation," it added.

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