Lava planet discovered in neighboring solar system
OCT 17, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026451
Washington Post : The nearest exoplanet yet discovered is Earth-sized and orbits Alpha Centauri B. From the European Southern Observatory in Chile, astronomers detected the planet indirectly by measuring the wobble of its star. According to Xavier Dumusque of the University of Geneva, lead author of a recent paper published in Nature on the subject, the rocky planet’s surface is probably lava-like because of its proximity to its sunâmdash;much closer than Mercury is to our Sun. Although astronomers have so far discovered 842 planets orbiting other stars, they have yet to find one similar to Earthâmdash;a rocky planet orbiting a Sun-like star at the right distance for water to be in a liquid state.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
