New Earth-size world discovered in star's habitable zone

MANILA, Philippines — NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Mission has discovered an Earth-size planet orbiting the habitable zone of dwarf star TOI 700, where “the range of distances where conditions may be just right to allow the presence of liquid water on the surface.”

The TOI 100 planetary system is found in the Dorado constellation just over 100 light years away.

“Scientists confirmed the find, called TOI 700 d, using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and have modeled the planet’s potential environments to help inform future observations,” read a Tuesday post on the NASA website.

TOI 700 d is one of the few Earth-size planets ever found in a star's habitable zone.

The record for the most Earth-size planets orbiting the habitable zone of a single star is three planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system around 40 light years away. 

Other worlds have also been discovered by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope.

“TESS was designed and launched specifically to find Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby stars...Planets around nearby stars are easiest to follow-up with larger telescopes in space and on Earth,” Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a NASA post.

“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."