Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Kepler-78b: Earth-Sized Planet Discovered

NASA ^ | November 05, 2013 | (see photo credit)

[shibumi]

It's easier to comprehend if it'sposted in bold Italians.

"It's like this. There's the distance from Mercury to the Sun, right?

So this planet is that distant, but forty times that, toward its star. So it's actually 38 times further away, but on the other side."

Got that?

[cripplecreek]

[Conspiracy Guy]

It looks angry.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Perhaps it is hell ?

[editor-surveyor]

LOL!

[editor-surveyor]

>> “We’ll colonize it with really strong skinny people!” <<

.
Wearing asbestos undies!

[Verginius Rufus]

Stars come in a variety of colors and sizes--red giants are vastly larger than the sun (some are so large that the earth's orbit would be inside the star if it were located where the sun is) and white dwarfs (like the companion of Sirius) are much smaller than the sun.

If this planet is orbiting at one-fortieth Mercury's distance from the sun, it would be less than a million miles from its star's surface.

[Ironfocus]

Has Al Gore started bitching about global warming there? Must be the carbon emissions from a long time ago that got it so hot.

[Starstruck]

Riddick fan?

[Salamander]

I read what he said and still don’t.

*shrug*

I don’t get paid to be smart.

[shibumi]

Just stand there and keep looking beautiful and sexy and menacing.

Especially menacing. Menacing turns me on.

[Moltke]

OK, I referred to the narrower definition of “star” - not the pre (gas cloud) and post (where its fuel is spent and it turns into a red giant, brown dwarf, neutron star, black hole, goes all supernova on ya, etc.) states.

So sue me. ;-)

[Salamander]

*Grrrrr*

[CodeToad]

“No intelligent life would be possible on a planet of that size, even if it were in Earth’s place”

So, what??

[mikrofon]

[Helotes]

That’s great.

THANKS!

Life can be pretty funny me thinks

[MrB]

it should not exist

I actually love seeing phrases like this...
shows how ignorant man is of Creation.

[editor-surveyor]

So nothing really, since this is mostly Sci-Fi prattle, considering that if this ‘planet’ really exists it is completely liquid and gas, being so close to the sun.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “I don’t get paid to be smart.” <<

.
Try 1/40th as far from its sun then. that’s all they meant, but they couldn’t say it that simply.

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, that bugs me too. :’)