Surprise discovery of nearby, Mars-sized planet

National Geographic : Using the Spitzer Space Telescope to study a Neptune-sized planet, astronomers detected evidence of an 8300-km-wide planet that orbits its star every 1.4 Earth days. While examining the dimming of the star caused by the already known planet transiting the star, the researchers discovered another regular pattern of dimming. The calculated speed of the new planet’s orbit suggests that its distance from the star is just seven times the distance between Earth and the Moon. That proximity means that the planet is possibly so hot that it would have a molten surface. The University of Central Florida’s Kevin Stevenson, the lead astronomer, says that the new object won’t be officially confirmed as a planet until its mass has been determined. He also says that eccentricities in the larger planet’s orbit suggest that there may be a third planet present.