Astronomers described it on Wednesday as the first Earth-size planet that seems to be made of the same mixture of rock and iron as Earth, and that orbits a star similar to our sun. The surface of Kepler 78b is infernally hot: 3,500 to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Viewed from the surface of Kepler 78b, its star would cover 80 times more of the sky than the sun does in Earth’s sky. It's year is just eight and a half hours. (By contrast, Earth is 93 million miles from the sun and, of course, completes its yearly orbit in a little over 365 days.) Kepler 78b is earth-like, but obviously it is not habitable.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Astronomers Find Earthlike Planet, but It’s Infernally Hot
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/science/space/astronomers-find-earthlike-planet-but-its-infernally-hot.html?ref=science&_r=0
Astronomers described it on Wednesday as the first Earth-size planet that seems to be made of the same mixture of rock and iron as Earth, and that orbits a star similar to our sun. The surface of Kepler 78b is infernally hot: 3,500 to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Viewed from the surface of Kepler 78b, its star would cover 80 times more of the sky than the sun does in Earth’s sky. It's year is just eight and a half hours. (By contrast, Earth is 93 million miles from the sun and, of course, completes its yearly orbit in a little over 365 days.) Kepler 78b is earth-like, but obviously it is not habitable.
Astronomers described it on Wednesday as the first Earth-size planet that seems to be made of the same mixture of rock and iron as Earth, and that orbits a star similar to our sun. The surface of Kepler 78b is infernally hot: 3,500 to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Viewed from the surface of Kepler 78b, its star would cover 80 times more of the sky than the sun does in Earth’s sky. It's year is just eight and a half hours. (By contrast, Earth is 93 million miles from the sun and, of course, completes its yearly orbit in a little over 365 days.) Kepler 78b is earth-like, but obviously it is not habitable.
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