Artist’s conception of Kepler-78b from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Scientists spotted a planet this week that is both way hot and way important.
Kepler-78b is the first exoplanet scientists have found with a size and density similar to Earth. Exoplanets are simply planets outside our solar system. With this discovery, scientists say the chances of finding more planets like Earth increase. And if we find more Earth-like planets, the next step could be finding life.
“[Kepler-78b] proves that there are other Earths out there,” said university astronomy professor Drake Deming. “We just have to find them.”
Deming recently published a commentary in the science journal Nature explaining the planet’s importance. The planet is roughly 1.2 times Earth’s radius and is made up of a similar rocky composition and comparable density. However, this is where the planets’ similarities end.
The weird thing about Kepler-78b is that it’s ridiculously hot — so hot that it shouldn’t exist; yet it does.
Kepler-78b orbits so close to its sun that its year lasts eight and a half hours. This unbelievably close orbit makes the planet 3,500-5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes it unsuitable for life and comparable to College Park during the first few weeks of school.
Kepler-78b has left scientists wondering how it manages to exist so close to its star. During the early stages of the star’s life, the star would’ve been bigger than Kepler-78b’s orbit — meaning it had to have formed inside the star. According to our current knowledge, this isn’t possible.
“If it does exist, it can exist,” explained university astronomy professor Jessica Sunshine. “We just have to find out why.”
Current planetary theories do not allow Kepler-78b to exist and scientists have yet to figure out how the planet could’ve been transported to its current location. As with many astronomical discoveries, more questions are raised than are answered.
We’ve never measured the density of a planet as small as Kepler-78b before because of our detecting techniques. Telescopes track the light emitted from different stars to see if there are any dips in the brightness, which would mean something was passing in front of it. Planets like Kepler-78b were previously too small to detect in this way.
Unfortunately, Kepler-78b is a doomed world. Its star’s gravity will eventually rip it apart because the two are so close together. Fortunately, there’s little chance this lava planet is home to any life so no Kepler-78b-ers will be lost.
We have yet to find traces of life on other planets, let alone intelligent life. Some could even argue we haven’t found intelligent life on Earth yet either. However, as our telescopes become more sophisticated and we are capable of detecting more Earth-sized planets, the chances of finding another Earth continue to rise.
