A Neptune-sized planet closely orbiting its host star has just been discovered, making it only the fourth object of its kind ever identified.
Scientists detected the planet, designated TOI-3261 b, using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). This Earth-orbiting spacecraft, which launched in 2018 and is still going strong, was specifically designed to search for exoplanets around the brightest dwarf stars with its wide-field cameras.
