Since 2018, NASA’s TESS space telescope (Transit Exoplanet Survey Satellite), which has found literally thousands of exoplanets and is also called the exoplanet hunter, has again made an important discovery. Scientists have announced a possible “ocean planet” with this discovery made by TESS. With the ocean planet, a single scene came to many people’s minds; The super-aquatic world called the planet Miller in Interstellar (Interstellar), a 2014 American epic sci-fi movie directed by Christopher Nolan.
OCEAN PLANET ‘TOI-1452 b’
This possible “ocean planet”, designated ‘TOI-1452 b’, orbits one of two smaller stars in a binary system in the constellation Draco, according to the team’s study published this month in The Astronomical Journal. The planet is about 100 light-years from Earth. TOI-1452 b is suspected to be about 70% larger than our planet. According to the data obtained by the researchers, the planet is covered with a thick layer of water, just like the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
“ONE OF THE BEST CANDIDATES FOR AN OCEAN PLANET”
“TOI-1452 b” is one of the best candidates for an oceanic planet we’ve found to date, said Charles Cadieux, a PhD student at the University of Montreal and lead author of the study. “The radius and mass indicate a much lower density than would be expected from a planet like Earth that is mainly composed of metal and rock.”
If this hypothesis is correct, TOI-1452 b is similar to some places in our solar system. For example, Saturn’s moon Enceladus is thought to host a global subterranean ocean under an icy shield.
Although the number of exoplanet discoveries has increased in the last few years, it is very meaningful to make an exoplanet discovery today. Because now there is the James Webb Space Telescope, located far, far away from Earth, collecting cosmic data and unraveling the mysteries of the universe. Observing more of the oceanic planet TOI-1452 b seems like a good mission for the Webb Space Telescope.
The researchers hope to study this exoplanet’s atmosphere in more detail and test whether it is indeed a wonderful ocean planet.
René Doyon, Director of the Mont-Mégantic Observatory (OMM) at the University of Montreal, said, “The observations we make with the James Webb Telescope will be crucial to better understanding TOI-1452 b. Observing this strange and wonderful world as soon as possible. We’ll make time at Webb for that.” said. The researchers hope to study this exoplanet’s atmosphere in more detail and test whether it is indeed a wonderful world of liquid water.
THAT SCENE IN INTERSTELLAR
In this scene that impressed everyone in the Interstellar movie, the crew was landing on the sea-covered planet Miller.
The planet Miller was one of these oceanic planets.
(Photo sources: Twitter and NASA)