[Illustration Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA)]
Earth sized? - My a$$!
No intelligent life would be possible on a planet of that size, even if it were in Earth’s place
In related news, it is estimated that there are 20 billion planets surrounding stars.... and that’s just in our galaxy.
This sounds dumb I know but what does this mean?
“is extraordinary in the sense that it circles a Sun-like star 40 times closer than planet Mercury”
Does that mean it orbits at 1/40th of the distance?
I understand 40 times further (d X 40)away but what does “40 times closer” mean?
"Kepler-78b may be an exoplanet notable for being approximately Earth-sized and likely possessing a rocky surface plus iron core, but that’s where any similarity to our planet ends. It has an extremely tight orbit around sun-like star Kepler-78, completing one ‘year’ in only 8.5 hours. It orbits so close in fact that the alien world’s surface temperature soars to 2,000 degrees hotter than Earth’s. Referring to Kepler-78b as a “rocky” world is therefore a misnomer — it’s a hellish lava world."
Crematoria
It looks angry.
Perhaps it is hell ?
Has Al Gore started bitching about global warming there? Must be the carbon emissions from a long time ago that got it so hot.