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Doomed Mystery Planet Baffling Astronomers
Credit: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
“Kepler-78b is going to end up in the star very soon, astronomically speaking,” agrees CfA astronomer Dimitar Sasselov.
Credit: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Not only is Kepler-78b a mystery world, it is the first known Earth-sized planet with an Earth-like density. Kepler-78b is about 20 percent larger than the Earth, with a diameter of 9,200 miles, and weighs almost twice as much. As a result it has a density similar to Earth’s, which suggests an Earth-like composition of iron and rock.
The tight orbit of Kepler-78b poses a challenge to theorists. When this planetary system was forming, the young star was larger than it is now. As a result, the current orbit of Kepler-78b would have been inside the swollen star.
“It couldn’t have formed in place because you can’t form a planet inside a star. It couldn’t have formed further out and migrated inward, because it would have migrated all the way into the star. This planet is an enigma,” explains Sasselov.
According to Latham, Kepler-78b is a member of a new class of planets recently identified in data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. These newfound worlds all orbit their stars with periods of less than 12 hours. They’re also small, about the size of Earth. Kepler-78b is the first planet in the new class to have its mass measured.
“Kepler-78b is the poster child for this new class of planets,” notes Latham.
The team studied Kepler-78b using a newly commissioned, high-precision spectrograph known as HARPS-North, at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma. They coordinated their work with a second, independent team using the HIRES spectrograph at the Keck Observatory. The teams’ measurements agreed with each other, increasing their confidence in the result.
Kepler-78b is a doomed world. Gravitational tides will draw it even closer to its star. Eventually it will move so close that the star’s gravity will rip the world apart. Theorists predict that Kepler-78b will vanish within three billion years.
Interestingly, our solar system could have held a planet like Kepler-78b. If it had, the planet would have been destroyed long ago leaving no signs for astronomers today.
Kepler-78b orbits a Sun-like G-type star located 400 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA scientists, organized into six research divisions, study the origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the universe.
Contacts and sources:
David A. Aguilar
Director of Public Affairs
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
They cant even work out the mysteries of our own solar system let alone distant one`s.But they will keep on applying their earthbound type theories to worlds they have no business in.Is it any wonder astrotheorists get it so wrong!
Unknown events can be from interactions of planetary or galactic origin. Or any space body, say it is ejected from a galactic impact that threw it around until it was captured by this star and fried like a bad egg. Or it was moved by an event inside its own solar system and that is where it ended up. There are many different ways a planet can have migrated, stars as well.
How Nibiru Shaped Our Solar System According To The Sumerians, And ET Commander Hatonn (PS… It’s Back!)
/alternative/2013/10/how-nibiru-shaped-our-solar-system-according-to-the-sumerians-and-et-commander-hatonn-ps-its-back-2809074.html
I’m suspect it is held there by electromagnetic forces. I’m a housewife, and it seems I have a better grasp of the universe than a Harvard astrophysicist.
It’s where hell is located. Wanna go?
And this matters why? The fabulous NOAA announced, this past summer would be an extreme Hurricane season. WTF! They couldn’t find a hurricane it it blew up their asses nevermind some planet which doesn’t mean “jack” to anyone. How about concentrating on the “evil USA government” and the pathological liar who doesn’t even know his own name, birth certificate, social security number, but has a “tranny for a wife.” That’s right, she was a guy until 18 then had a sex change. Not only was Barry the first President to have black blood, while only 25%, he is a twisted homosexual with deviant sexual behavior. That’s your countries finest. “EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF LEADERSHIP FOR THE WORLD AND OTHER WORLD’S SINCE THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT DISTANT PLANETS.” WHY DON’T YOU PUT BARRY AND MICHAEL ON A ONE WAY SHIP AND SEND THEM THERE??????
Is this what they are talking about?
Seems like there are many names for
the planet.
Or is it a planet-comet?
Or is it a comet-planet?
http://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=2257
“What Obama and NASA don’t want you to know!”
I have lived in North Louisiana for 5 years now. About two months ago I noticed a weird looking “star” in the western sky. But this “star” doesn’t look like the typical star. This is VERY bright and it somewhat in the shape of the small letter “t”. Even weirder is it comes out of the west just about over the apartment I live in. During the night it moves to the east just a little bit.
I had to get up at about 2:30 in the morning to let my little dog out to do business and I noticed that this “star” looked to be almost at a nearby lake. It caught my attention in the corner of my left eye. It was as bright as when it was in the west but I had to look at it through some trees.
I am no expert in which stars are where. But in my 59 years I have never seen a very bright star-like object. Any one have an idea of what it could be?
If you search on YouTube for astral traveler. He is explaining our strange planetary weather,space weather and a possible Mr x and where it is more likely to be and why. You MUST watch all his videos from scratch to really understand what’s going off and why. And not to mention a very nice and welcoming site. If you don’t understand something just ask him and if he can he will explain to you.