NASA's Kepler discovers New Habitable-Zone Planets: Kepler-62f and Kepler-69c
13.4 هزار بار بازدید -
11 سال پیش
-
NASA's Kepler telescope has discovered
NASA's Kepler telescope has discovered 3 new "Super-Earth" exoplanets, 2 of which, in the Kepler-62 system may be at the correct distance to their stars to make them possibly suitable for water and hence may be habitable to life as we know it.
2 of the planets discovered are in one solar system which contains the star Kepler-62. This star is a K2 dwarf, a star measuring at two-thirds the size of our sun, is slightly cooler (by about 15%) and is estimated to be around 7 billion years old. This system is located in the constellation Lyra, and is 1,200 light years from Earth.
Kepler-62 is orbited by a total of 5 planets, 3 of which are too close to be habitable for life. 2 of the planets (Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f) orbit at just the right distance for liquid water to potentially exist, given the correct atmospheric and gravitational conditions.
In another solar system, located in the constellation Cygnus and about 2,700 light years from Earth, lies Kepler-69 a G-type star, almost identical to our own Sol. On April 18, 2013 it was announced that the star has 2 planets. Although initial estimates indicated that the terrestrial planet Kepler-69c might be within the star's habitable zone, further analysis showed that the planet very likely is interior to the habitable zone and is far more analogous to Venus than to Earth and thus completely inhospitable. Despite the similarities to our own Sun, Kepler-69 probably has no habitable planets.
Kepler-69c, the biggest of this newly discovered trio is estimated to be 70 percent larger than Earth and takes 242 days to revolve around its sun-like star Kepler-69.
While there's great excitement surrounding these new findings, this isn't the first time we've spotted a potentially habitable planet. A little over a year ago Kepler discovered Kepler-22b, an exoplanet about 600 light-years away from Earth believed to be covered in liquid. Like their predecessor, NASA has yet to determine if these newfound planets actually have water or a rocky composition.
2 of the planets discovered are in one solar system which contains the star Kepler-62. This star is a K2 dwarf, a star measuring at two-thirds the size of our sun, is slightly cooler (by about 15%) and is estimated to be around 7 billion years old. This system is located in the constellation Lyra, and is 1,200 light years from Earth.
Kepler-62 is orbited by a total of 5 planets, 3 of which are too close to be habitable for life. 2 of the planets (Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f) orbit at just the right distance for liquid water to potentially exist, given the correct atmospheric and gravitational conditions.
In another solar system, located in the constellation Cygnus and about 2,700 light years from Earth, lies Kepler-69 a G-type star, almost identical to our own Sol. On April 18, 2013 it was announced that the star has 2 planets. Although initial estimates indicated that the terrestrial planet Kepler-69c might be within the star's habitable zone, further analysis showed that the planet very likely is interior to the habitable zone and is far more analogous to Venus than to Earth and thus completely inhospitable. Despite the similarities to our own Sun, Kepler-69 probably has no habitable planets.
Kepler-69c, the biggest of this newly discovered trio is estimated to be 70 percent larger than Earth and takes 242 days to revolve around its sun-like star Kepler-69.
While there's great excitement surrounding these new findings, this isn't the first time we've spotted a potentially habitable planet. A little over a year ago Kepler discovered Kepler-22b, an exoplanet about 600 light-years away from Earth believed to be covered in liquid. Like their predecessor, NASA has yet to determine if these newfound planets actually have water or a rocky composition.
11 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1392/04/04 منتشر شده
است.
13,499
بـار بازدید شده