An "Ocean Planet"?
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| CREDIT: BENOIT GOUGEON, UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL |
"Astronomers believe that TOI-1452 b, larger in size and mass than Earth, could be an “ocean planet” covered by a thick layer of water, much more than Earth. That's because though about 70% of Earth's surface is covered by ocean, water makes up actually less than 1% of its mass."
Looks like news providers have finally decided to publish articles unrelated to our currently political dumpster fire.
The USA TODAY article, titled "Scientists might have discovered an Earth-like planet", is interesting but nowhere near an in-depth paper on the topic.
I'm not up to writing much tonight. My current level of pain is astronomical. But I urge you to take a look at "TOI-1452 b: SPIRou and TESS Reveal a Super-Earth in a Temperate Orbit Transiting an M4 Dwarf", The Astronomical Journal, Volume 164, Number 3
The Abstract:
Exploring the properties of exoplanets near or inside the radius valley
provides insight on the transition from the rocky super-Earths to the
larger, hydrogen-rich atmosphere mini-Neptunes. Here, we report the
discovery of TOI-1452b, a transiting super-Earth (Rp = 1.67 ± 0.07 R⊕) in an 11.1 day temperate orbit (Teq = 326 ± 7 K) around the primary member (H = 10.0, Teff
= 3185 ± 50 K) of a nearby visual-binary M dwarf. The transits were
first detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, then
successfully isolated between the two 3
2
companions with ground-based photometry from the Observatoire du
Mont-Mégantic and MuSCAT3. The planetary nature of TOI-1452b was
established through high-precision velocimetry with the near-infrared
SPIRou spectropolarimeter as part of the ongoing SPIRou Legacy Survey.
The measured planetary mass (4.8 ± 1.3 M⊕) and inferred bulk density (
g cm−3)
is suggestive of a rocky core surrounded by a volatile-rich envelope.
More quantitatively, the mass and radius of TOI-1452b, combined with the
stellar abundance of refractory elements (Fe, Mg, and Si) measured by
SPIRou, is consistent with a core-mass fraction of 18% ± 6% and a
water-mass fraction of 
%.
The water world candidate TOI-1452b is a prime target for future
atmospheric characterization with JWST, featuring a transmission
spectroscopy metric similar to other well-known temperate small planets
such as LHS 1140b and K2-18 b. The system is located near Webb's
northern continuous viewing zone, implying that is can be followed at
almost any moment of the year.
You can access the full article online: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ac7cea
The Astronomical Journal also provides a free downloadable PDF: PDF