Tuesday 3 June 2014

NEW CLASS OF EXOPLANETS

An exoplanet named Kepler-10c has been discovered which has a high mass but a diameter only about twice that of Earth.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27669572

An exoplanet that massive would have been expected to have a gaseous composition, attracting hydrogen gas, similar to Jupiter or Neptune in the solar system.

The diameter of Kepler-10c was determined using a light-dip technique as the exoplanet transited its host star, while its mass was measured by examining the gravitational attraction between exoplanet and star.

These measurement indicate that the new exoplanet has a density of 7.5 grams per cubic centimetre, compared with Earth's 5.5 gram per cubic centimetre, according to Professor Dimitar Sasselov of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics. Professor Sasselov said 'Finding Kepler-10c tells us that rocky planets could form much earlier than we thought. And if you can make rocks, you can make life.'

The host star is about 560 light years away from Earth. and is about 11 billion years old, which is early in the evolution of the universe when generations of exploding stars have not had long to make the heavy elements needed to construct rock planets.

Comment:  The US space agency's Kepler telescope continues to make further discoveries of different types of exoplanets, increasing our understanding of planetary formation.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Your comments are welcome