Recent Discoveries in Exoplanets, Asteroids, and Binary Stars

Using NASA's TESS, astronomers have discovered a Venus-sized exoplanet, LHS 475 b, orbiting a nearby M-dwarf star. The planet has a radius of approximately 0.955 Earth radii and orbits its host every 48.7 hours, at a distance of about 0.02 AU from it. The planet's equilibrium temperature was estimated to be some 587 K, thus LHS 475 b is likely too hot to be habitable. The mass of LHS 475 b remains to be determined, but exoplanets of this size are highly likely to be terrestrial and might also have a similar interior composition to that of the Earth's.