When scientists face for exoplanets out in the Universe , a considerable amount of time is being spent bet for the holy grail - an Earth Gemini that matches our home in sizing , mass , and habitability . Most of the exoplanets found so far are much larger than our planet , but because they are easier to see , but as technology improves and we have more prison term to psychoanalyze datum , smaller planet have make out to luminosity . A newly discovered planet has just been announce from scientist at the Harvard - Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics : a flatulent satellite with an land - corresponding heap . A freshly discovered planet has just been harbinger from scientist at the Harvard - Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics : a gassy planet with an ground - similar mass . The newspaper has been submitted for publication inThe Astrophysical Journal , though the solution were represent today at the223rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Societyby lead writer David Kipping .
Theplanet KOI-314cis about 200 light days away and orbits a red nanus mavin , which has substantially less aggregated than our sunshine and belong to to a different spectral class . The planet has an celestial orbit of only 23 Earth daylight and its proximity to the lead order the surface temperature at an forecast 220 F ( 104 C ) . Unfortunately , this is much too hot to sustain the variety of life that we can discover . As a comparison , the highest temperature everrecorded on Earthwas 136 F ( 57.8 atomic number 6 ) .
The diameter of KOI-314c is about 60 percent gravid than Earth , though it is strikingly similar in pot . This is the minuscule and lightest planet to have both of these parameters measured . research worker have been able-bodied to deduce that the satellite is quite gassy with an atmosphere of helium and hydrogen that could be hundreds of mi boneheaded .
The the great unwashed of the satellite was determined using a relatively novel method acting calledtransit timing variations ( TTV ) . It has only been in consumption since 2010 , but allows astronomer are confident that it provide exact measurement of low - mass planet . As the satellite in question transits another major planet within the organisation , the variation in gravitation force the planet to “ wobble ” slimly and it alters the time it takes a planet to transit , which signify it shift the amount of time it takes for the planet to cross in front of the headliner . The team monitored the light KOI-314c against its neighbour KOI-214b which matches it in size , though it is about four time more dim .
This discovery is exceptionally cool because it was n’t even what the astronomers were searching for . The squad was disentangle through information obtained from theKepler Space Telescopein lookup forexomoons around potentially habitable planetswhen it come across KOI-314c . Though the squad initially report being disappointed that the planet was n’t an exomoon , the meaning of their discovery more than made up for it .
