An extrasolar planet with half the mass of Earth and a day of less than eight hours has been discovered, according to findings published on Thursday.
The celestial body, named GJ 367 b, is a low-mass rocky planet with a radius 72 per cent that of Earth’s and a mass 55 per cent that of Earth’s. Researchers say it is “one of the lightest among the nearly5000 exoplanets known today.”
An international team of scientists led by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research made the discovery.
Researcher Szilard Csizmadia said its “high density indicates the planet is dominated by an iron core.”
GJ 367 b, which is just under 31 light years away from Earth, takes about eight hours to orbit its parent star, a red dwarf called GJ 367which is only about half the size of the Sun.
“It seems to have similarities to Mercury,” said DLR’s Kristine Lam,who led the international team with Csizmadia.
“This places it among the sub-Earth sized terrestrial planets and brings research one step forward in the search for a ‘second Earth’.”
The planet, however, cannot be considered a “second Earth” due to the very high levels of radiation it is exposed to which are “more than500 times stronger than what the Earth experiences,” said Csizmadia.
“The surface temperature could reach up to 1500 degrees Celsius – a temperature at which all rocks and metals would be melted.”
The findings were published in the scientific journal Science on Thursday. — dpa
