Space & Astronomy
Kepler discovers its first rocky planet
By
T.K. RandallJanuary 12, 2011 ·
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Image Credit: NASA
NASA's Kepler telescope has discovered the smallest known planet outside our Solar System.
After eight months of data collection by NASA's Kepler Telescope a new planet outside our Solar System has been discovered. The planet is 1.4 times the size of Earth and has been named Kepler-10b. Kepler-10b orbits its Sun once every 0.84 days and is more than 20 times closer to it than Mercury is to our sun. The new rocky planet is considered not to be in the habitable zone; the region of a planetary system where it would be possible to find liquid water, and therefore possible life, on a planet's surface.
NASA's Kepler mission confirmed the discovery of its first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1. 4 times the size of Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system.
Source:
NASA |
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