Scientists of NASA's Kepler Mission have discovered a new planetary system that has the smallest planet discovered to date, along with a star that is similar to the sun.
The discovery of a new planetary system has come as a big surprise to scientists of NASA's Kepler Mission. The planets in this new system are about 210 light years away from Earth and the system has been named Kepler-37. The smallest planet in the planetary system has been named Kepler 37b and is one third the size of Earth, making it a little larger than the moon. It is smaller than Mercury which makes it difficult to detect.
The planetary system has two more planets and was discovered during the Kepler Mission, which has been designed to find any Earth-like planets in or near the "habitable zone." While the new planetary system may have a star similar to the sun, its solar system is entirely different from the Earth's solar system. According to scientists, the planets may not have any atmosphere and may not be able to support life as we know it.
The first planets ever to be discovered that revolved around similar stars were huge in size. With the development of technology, smaller planets were discovered. Kepler also found that even earth-sized planets were common.
"Even Kepler can only detect such a tiny world around the brightest stars it observes," said Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "The fact we've discovered tiny Kepler-37b suggests such little planets are common, and more planetary wonders await as we continue to gather and analyze additional data."
The newly discovered planet's star is similar to the sun but comparatively smaller and cooler. The three planets in the new planetary system revolve around the star in an orbit that is closer than what Mercury is to the sun. This led scientists to conclude that these planets are very hot and impossible of supporting life.
