Kepler-10b
Kepler-10b is the first confirmed terrestrial planet to have been discovered outside the Solar System by the Kepler Space Telescope. Discovered after several months of data collection during the course of the NASA-directed Kepler Mission, which aims to discover Earth-like planets crossing in front of their host stars, the planet's discovery was announced on January 10, 2011. Kepler-10b has a mass of 3.72±0.42 Earth masses and a radius of 1.47 Earth radii. However, it lies extremely close to its star, Kepler-10, and as a result is too hot to support life as we know it. Its existence was confirmed using measurements from the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
Size comparison of Kepler-10b with Earth | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Batalha et al. |
| Discovery date | January 10, 2011 |
| Transit (Kepler Mission) | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| 0.01684 +0.00032 −0.00034 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0 |
| 0.837495 d 20.0999 h | |
| Inclination | 84.4 |
| Semi-amplitude | 3.3 +0.8 −1.0 |
| Star | Kepler-10 |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 1.47+0.03 −0.02 R🜨 |
| Mass | 3.72±0.42 ME |
Mean density | 6.46±0.73 g/cm3 |
| 15 m/s2 (49 ft/s2) | |
| Albedo | 0.5 |
| Temperature | 1,833 K (1,560 °C; 2,840 °F) (day side) 50 K (−223.2 °C; −369.7 °F) (night side) |
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.