NASA’s NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) found a planet orbiting a star “100 light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado:
“TESS was designed and launched specifically to find Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby stars,” said Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Planets around nearby stars are easiest to follow-up with larger telescopes in space and on Earth. Discovering TOI 700 d is a key science finding for TESS. Confirming the planet’s size and habitable zone status with Spitzer is another win for Spitzer as it approaches the end of science operations this January.”
NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, “NASA planet hunter finds Earth-size habitable-zone world” at ScienceDaily
But wait:
The innermost planet, called TOI 700 b, is almost exactly Earth-size, is probably rocky and completes an orbit every 10 days. The middle planet, TOI 700 c, is 2.6 times larger than Earth — between the sizes of Earth and Neptune — orbits every 16 days and is likely a gas-dominated world. TOI 700 d, the outermost known planet in the system and the only one in the habitable zone, measures 20% larger than Earth, orbits every 37 days and receives from its star 86% of the energy that the Sun provides to Earth. All of the planets are thought to be tidally locked to their star, which means they rotate once per orbit so that one side is constantly bathed in daylight.
NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, “NASA planet hunter finds Earth-size habitable-zone world” at ScienceDaily
If they are tidally locked, like the Moon, that is bad news for hopes of life or habitability, no?
Note: “Habitable zone” needn’t mean a whole lot. Abundant Earth is in a habitable one but so is the lifeless Moon, tidally locked.
Hey, keep looking.