Kepler-10b
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Kepler-10b is one of several exoplanets discovered using the space telescope of NASA's Kepler Mission, and as of January 2011 the smallest exoplanet known. It is also the first exoplanet that is confirmed as a rocky planet [1] . The discovery of this exoplanet is based on eight months of data collected from May 2009 to early January 2010.[2] Using data from Kepler, the W.M. Keck Observatory observatory confirmed the existance of Kepler-10b.
The Planet
Kepler-10b is 1.4 times the size of the Earth. It orbits its star in less than a day, at less than a twentieth of the distance from Mercury to the Sun. Its surface temperature is approximately 1600 K.
Significance
The discovery of Kepler-10b is particularly significant since it increased the probability of finding more rocky planets and thus finding planets similar to our own.
Star
The exoplanet’s star, Kepler-10, was the first one identified as capable of harboring a small transiting planet, placing the star at the top of the list for ground-based observations using the 10-meter Keck telescope in Hawaii. Kepler-10 is located 560 light-years from our solar system and is approximately the same size as our sun. The star is estimated to be 11.9 billion years old.
See also
References
- ^ "BBC News". BBC. 2010-01-10. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ "NASA'S Kepler Mission Discovers Its First Rocky Planet". NASA. 2011-01-10. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
External links
Media related to Kepler-10 b at Wikimedia Commons
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