Astronomers Discover 2nd Earth-Sized Planet Orbiting Its Star’s Habitable Zone

Newly discovered Earth-size planet TOI 700 e orbits within the habitable zone of its star in this illustration. Its Earth-size sibling, TOI 700 d, can be seen in the distance. Courtesy of Robert Hurt/NASA/JPL-Caltech

A team of NASA scientists discovered another Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting in its star’s habitable zone that could potentially retain liquid water, the U.S. space agency announced on Tuesday.

The planet—called “TOI 700 e”—is about 95 percent of Earth’s size and likely rocky. It was spotted in a system in the southern hemisphere about 100 light-years away from Earth while orbiting a small, cool M dwarf star dubbed “TOI 700.”