Swiss-led team discovers new exoplanet

An international research team led by the University of Bern has discovered a new exoplanet smaller than Neptune (“sub-Neptune”) orbiting around a red dwarf star, the University said on Friday. This exoplanet, a planet that orbits a star outside our solar system, has been baptised TOI-2257 b and has a particularly unusual orbit, according to a press release on Friday. It was discovered using the so-called transit method. This involves using telescopes to look for dips in the star's brightness when the planet passes in front of it, allowing researchers to determine the planet’s orbit and diameter. “With its 35-day orbital period, TOI-2257 b orbits the host star at a distance where liquid water is possible on the planet, and therefore conditions favourable for the emergence of life could exist,” says the University of Bern. But its radius (2.2 times larger than Earth’s) “suggests that the planet is rather gaseous, with high atmospheric pressure not conducive to life”. “We found...