NASA spots a ‘Super Earth’

NASA spots a ‘Super Earth’

Astronomers have used NASA's Spitzer telescope to spot a huge planet outside our solar system -- and it's got scientists excited.

A stunning new discovery is the latest for NASA in its search for other Earth-like planets.

Using the Spitzer space telescope, the agency has confirmed the existence of HD 219134b — which, at just 21 light-years away, is the closest known rocky exoplanet to Earth, according to a CNET report. It is being dubbed “Super Earth” by some.

The planet can’t be observed directly be telescopes, which must instead watch as the star it orbits dims because of the obstruction of the planet, and then use that information to estimate how large it is, where it is in relation to the sun, and what its surface might look like.

NASA’s Spitzer space telescope was the powerful tool that was used to make the observations, and a study will be published on the discovery in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

The planet is big — about 1.6 times that of Earth. It’s also rocky, and it is fairly light in terms of mass — even lighter in overall mass than gas giants like Jupiter.

The discovery is an offshoot of NASA Kepler mission, which is to find Earth-like planets outside of our solar system. Scientists always knew super-Earths were numerous in our Milky Way galaxy, but very little is known about them. With these sorts of observations, scientists are coming to a better understanding.

It was Kepler-452b that made the big headlines recently due to its Earth-like conditions, as it orbits a similar star to our own sun in what is known as the “habitable zone” where temperatures are not too extreme for life. However, that planet is 1,400 light years away, compared to just 21 for this newest discovery of HD 219134b.

HD 219134b, however, is probably too close to its star for it to support life, and it likely has active volcanoes and a surface that is at least partially molten.

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