Of the 85 possible exoplanets, which are roughly the size of Saturn, 60 are brand-new discoveries, and 25 have been found by separate research teams.
These exoplanet candidates are similar in size to Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, and were discovered using data from NASA’s Transitioning Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).
Through the use of TESS, scientists are able to witness transits—drops in a star’s brightness caused by an object passing in front of it.
In order to find an exoplanet in this manner and calculate its orbital period, typically three transits must be observed.
The new study, however, focused on systems that only undergo two transits, which produces planets with longer orbital periods and allows for the detection of exoplanets at lower temperatures.
Out of the 85 possible exoplanets, 25 have been found through independent research teams analyzing the TESS data. The remaining 60 are new discoveries.
“It’s very exciting to find these planets, and to know that many of them may be in the right temperature zone to sustain life,” University of Warwick professor Daniel Bayliss said.
In keeping with the collaborative nature of the TESS mission, we have also made our findings publicly available so that researchers from all over the world can learn more about these unusual exoplanets. We anticipate that this will stimulate more investigation into these intriguing exoplanets.”
Certain planets may have the ideal temperature to support life because they are sufficiently remote from their host stars, according to researchers.
This is referred to as the “habitable zone” or the “Goldilocks zone.”
The bodies still need to be verified as exoplanets at this point, but the researchers are hopeful that future observations will help them accomplish this.
The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) have published an article about the international collaboration.
