The planet Kepler-78b - "Planet Hell"

carrizmex (39)in #steemstemscience • 7 years ago

Hello Steemit! Did you know that Kepler-78b looks like our world, with an almost identical size and mass?

The discovery of a rocky planet like ours, with an almost identical size and mass, with the discovery of an Earth twin about 700 light-years away, in the constellation of the Swan. In fact, Kepler-78b looks like our world in all these aspects, but it has a peculiarity that surprises scientists and makes it completely different. Orbit the star too close, so that the year only lasts 8.5 hours. It moves at the speed of lightning compared to our 365 days of pause. The heat on its surface is unbearable and can not sustain life.

Kepler-78b has a diameter of approximately 14,800 kilometers, 20% more than Earth, and weighs almost twice as much. As a result, it has a density similar to that of our planet, which suggests that it is very similar, iron and rock. The temperature on the diurnal side of the planet amounts to values between 2300 and 3100 K.

Source

But astronomers believe that this planet should not exist. It revolves around its star at a distance of around a million and a half kilometers, one of the narrowest known orbits. According to the current theories of planetary formation, it could have been so close to its star or have moved it there.

The only possible explanation is that Kepler 78b formed in another orbit and ended up near this star for unknown reasons.

Its proximity to the star of its system makes it definitely uninhabitable for the human race. The lava and the temperature in general, is close to 2 thousand degrees. Compared to Earth cycles, a year of Kepler 78b lasts just 8 hours and a half "terrestrial".

Source

Discovery:

This planet was discovered in 2013 through the data analysis of the Kepler space telescope. The planet was found not only by the receptors of its star, but also by its occultation and the reflected light of the star was detected due to the orbital phases.