Astronomers discover massive super-Earth, nearly 10 times Earth’s mass

Astronomers have discovered a massive planet, which according to them, is a 'hulk' among super-Earths discovered so far. With nearly 10 times the mass of Earth, the planet orbits a small, red-orange star about 200 light-years away.

The planet, named TOI-1075 b, was discovered by an international team led by Zahra Essack of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

TOI-1075 b has an ultra-short orbit - its year, once around the star, takes only 14 ½ hours - making the planet extremely hot, with an estimated temperature of 1,922 degrees Fahrenheit (1,050 Celsius).

"Super-Earths the size of TOI-1075 b, 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," NASA said in a statement.

Discovery Alert!📣A super-Earth is one of the most massive of this type found so far. Stand on its higher-gravity surface and you would certainly feel it -- you'd be about three times your weight on Earth. A year there, one orbit, is less than 15 hours. https://t.co/0eLwwoanWR pic.twitter.com/Ismifm09J1

— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) November 8, 2022

Launched in 2108, NASA's TESS is an all-sky survey mission to discover thousands of exoplanets - planets outside our solar system - in orbit around the brightest dwarf stars in the sky