Scientists Discover Super-Earth

Artist’s conception of the K2-360 system, showing the ultra-dense super-Earth K2-360 b (red) in its extremely close orbit around its Sun-like star, with the more distant companion K2-360 c (blue) in the background. The scorching temperatures on K2-360 b, which completes an orbit in just 21 hours, likely result in a molten or partially molten surface. Credit: Astrobiology Center

The K2-360 system features a record-dense “super-Earth” and a massive outer planet, revealing insights into extreme planetary evolution.

An international research team, led by scientists from Japan and Europe, has identified a new multi-planet system orbiting a Sun-like star. Among the discoveries is an ultra-short period planet with one of the highest densities ever recorded. These findings, published on November 8 in Nature Scientific Reports, provide fresh insights into how planets form and evolve under extreme conditions.

The system, designated K2-360, is located approximately 750 light-years from Earth and features two planets orbiting a Sun-like star:

• K2-360 b: A rocky “super-Earth” that is about 1.6 times the size of Earth and completes an orbit around its star in just 21 hours. With a mass 7.7 times that of Earth, it is the densest well-characterized ultra-short period planet discovered to date.
• K2-360 c: A larger outer planet with a minimum mass of 15 Earth masses. This planet orbits its star every 9.8 days but does not transit, making its exact size uncertain.     READ MORE...

NASA Found a Super Earth

A NASA telescope orbiting our planet has spotted an intriguing super-Earth — a world some 30 to 70 percent bigger than Earth.

This rocky planet is in another solar system 137 light-years away, which in the vastness of space is considered relatively close (a light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles). The exoplanet, called TOI-715 b, is about 1.5 times the size of Earth. And, crucially, this world orbits inside the habitable, or "Goldilocks," zone.

"That’s the distance from the star that could give the planet the right temperature for liquid water to form on its surface," NASA explained on its website. "Several other factors would have to line up, of course, for surface water to be present, especially having a suitable atmosphere."

TOI-715 b orbits quite close to its star (each orbit lasts just 19 days) — but scientists don't think its a hellish, scorching world, like some other exoplanets. That's because its star is a "red dwarf," which is both cooler and smaller than our medium-sized star, the sun.   READ MORE...