12 de janeiro de 2012

Three Tiny Exoplanets on a Micro Solar System

SMALL TIME: An artist's representation of three small extrasolar worlds in a miniature planetary system. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's Kepler spacecraft is always surprising us. On its voyage, searching for new and better worlds, The spacecraft discovered three of the smallest extra solar planets ever detected — all of them smaller than Earth, and the most diminutive no larger than Mars. The newly discovered trio forms a miniature planetary system orbiting a cool, dim red dwarf star called KOI-961.

Because they are so close to their star, the three exoplanets are too hot to support life. But unlike most previously known exoplanets, the vast majority of which are Jupiter-scale gas giants, all three are thought to be rocky worlds like Earth and the other worlds of the inner Solar System. more here

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