'Super-Earth' Discovered Orbiting One of the Galaxy's Oldest Stars

'Super-Earth' Discovered Orbiting One of the Galaxy's Oldest Stars

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA — Scientists have discovered a unique rocky "super Earth" near one of the oldest stars in the galaxy, according to a statement from the University of California, Riverside.

The planet, known as TOI-561b, is located 280 light-years away in a part of the Milky Way known as the galactic thick disk.

TOI-561b is about 50 percent larger than Earth and roughly three times its mass and roughly the same density.

It orbits a star named for NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite — TESS Object of Interest 561, or TOI-561.

Discovery of planet TOI-561b and observations made about its composition have been accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal.