What type of exoplanet, about 1.5 times the size of Earth and potentially habitable, was detected by NASA's TESS in January 2026?

The exoplanet detected by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in January 2026, fitting the description of being about 1.5 times the size of Earth and potentially habitable, is categorized as a Super-Earth. This classification refers to a planet that is more massive than our home planet but significantly less massive than the ice giants like Neptune or Uranus. While there isn't an exact upper limit for their size, planets up to twice the radius of Earth or ten times its mass are generally considered Super-Earths.

TESS, launched in 2018, is a powerful space telescope (Deals) designed specifically to search for exoplanets orbiting bright, nearby stars using the transit method. This technique involves observing slight dips in a star's brightness, which occur when a planet passes in front of it from our perspective. Discoveries like this Super-