It's a shame that TESS isn't that good at finding planets that are farther away from their star. That seems to rule out finding anything in the habitable zone.
This one is definitely weird, though. The star must be a Red Dwarf if the planet has an orbit of 36 days, but has a surface temperature of only 300 degrees. And that's kind of an odd temperature, too. It seems like we don't see many that are just a little bit hotter than Earth like that. And if it's three times bigger than Earth, then it's atmosphere is probably denser, so that means the boiling point of water would be higher, so it's possible that this place has wicked hot liquid oceans. I wonder if that would save it from becoming a Mega-Venus.
That's actually a big question here. Since we have no planets in our system in that size range it is a bit of a mystery where "Earths" end and "Neptunes" begin. It might have to do with water content or the amount of heat from their primary.
It's a shame that TESS isn't that good at finding planets that are farther away from their star. That seems to rule out finding anything in the habitable zone.
TESS is using the same transiting technique as Kepler, so it will likely be years before it starts to detect planets in the Goldilocks Zone. Kepler broke down just as it was on the verge of doing so.
This one is definitely weird, though. The star must be a Red Dwarf if the planet has an orbit of 36 days, but has a surface temperature of only 300 degrees. And that's kind of an odd temperature, too. It seems like we don't see many that are just a little bit hotter than Earth like that. And if it's three times bigger than Earth, then it's atmosphere is probably denser, so that means the boiling point of water would be higher, so it's possible that this place has wicked hot liquid oceans. I wonder if that would save it from becoming a Mega-Venus.
HD 21749 is a red dwarf, but you're right about the temperature. At .68 Solar Masses you'd think that the planet would be hotter than that.
That's actually a big question here. Since we have no planets in our system in that size range it is a bit of a mystery where "Earths" end and "Neptunes" begin. It might have to do with water content or the amount of heat from their primary.
True. In this case, it's not just as simple as mass. It's a matter of composition.
TESS is using the same transiting technique as Kepler, so it will likely be years before it starts to detect planets in the Goldilocks Zone. Kepler broke down just as it was on the verge of doing so.
Coincidence? I think not!
HD 21749 is a red dwarf, but you're right about the temperature. At .68 Solar Masses you'd think that the planet would be hotter than that.
Yeah, that's a pretty tight orbit. Maybe they meant to say 3000.
I wonder how much the tee shirt they make from it will cost.
Actually, it sounds like the plant experiments are not doing too well so far. I wonder which of the culprits listed in the article are responsible. I think we can discount the launch and the low gravity. I'm a bit dubious about the radiation, too, although I wouldn't be surprised to see mutations if the cotton continues to grow and the other plants sprout. I think the temperature swings are probably the most likely reason, although the article doesn't specify how extreme those swings are-- and you'd think they would have done as much as possible to protect the plants from all these hazards.
Yeah, they didn't make it.
Though reading the article the experiment did seem a little half-hearted as no heater was included. Plant seeds sent to Lunar orbit have done well before as many of the Moon Trees are still alive.
That certainly contained a lot of food for thought as to how the data can be interpreted in multiple ways, which alter the size and shape of Yomama-- even turning it into a light sail. And it's kind of weird that it can be at rest relative to the local group, but still manage escape velocity from the Solar System. I'm not sure if I quite understand that part. Unfortunately the scientist spent a lot of time making irrelevant arguments, like Einstein's reluctance to accept quantum theory, which gave him kind of a von Daniken vibe.
And read 
What did they expect to happen with no heater? They essentially sent them to their doom.