An international team of researchers has confirmed the planetary nature of the TOI-1752 system, located about 337 light-years from Earth and composed of two very different worlds: one extremely hot, compatible with a lava planet, and another located in a potentially habitable zone.
The study, led by the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), involved the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) through observations made from the Teide Observatory with the MuSCAT2 instrument, installed on the Carlos Sánchez Telescope, the Canary institution reported in a statement.
The two planets had been initially identified as candidates by NASA's TESS satellite, which searches for exoplanets through small periodic decreases in the brightness of stars when a planet passes in front of them.
The joint analysis of space and ground-based observations allowed other explanations for these signals to be ruled out, such as eclipsing binary systems or brown dwarfs, and confirmed that TOI-1752 actually hosts two planets, according to the work published in the journal 'Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society' (MNRAS).
The host star is a red dwarf, smaller and cooler than the Sun, a type of star particularly suitable for detecting small planets using the transit method because the passage of the planet causes a proportionally larger decrease in its brightness, the note details.
The inner planet, named TOI-1752 b, completes an orbit around its star in less than a day and receives a very high amount of radiation.
Researchers believe its surface could reach temperatures sufficient to maintain molten rock on the hemisphere permanently facing the star, making it compatible with a "lava world" scenario.
This environment could also favor the formation of a secondary atmosphere from materials released by the planet's own surface.
Further away is TOI-1752 c, whose size is between that of Earth and Neptune and orbits within the so-called optimistic habitable zone.
This region corresponds to the distance from a star at which, under certain atmospheric conditions, liquid water could be maintained on the surface, although being in it does not by itself mean the planet is habitable.
TOI-1752 c has an estimated equilibrium temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius and receives stellar irradiation similar to Earth's, characteristics that make it an object of interest for future observations of its atmosphere.
"We don't have many planets of this type, let alone detailed studies that we can compare with its analogue K2-12 b, so this planet is a relic that will help us understand planetary formation and evolution processes a little more, along with its internal composition," says IAC researcher Samuel Geraldía.
The team suggests that telescopes like the James Webb could study its atmosphere in the future and provide more information about its characteristics.
The IAC adds that it contributed to the research with MuSCAT2, which allows simultaneous observation of planetary transits in different color bands and provided photometric follow-up data of the system.
Observations from other telescopes at the Teide Observatory, such as SPECULOOS-North and the Two-meter Twin Telescope (TTT), were also used, in addition to data obtained with MuSCAT3 from the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii.
Add La Voz de Lanzarote as a preferred Google source.
Stay informed with the latest current news.