Kepler-10c, located 560
light-years from us, is 17 times heavier than the Earth. It was
previously believed that such a world couldn't exist, because its mass
would attract hydrogen atoms and form a "gas giant" such as Jupiter in
our own solar system.
Planet Godzilla
It is the biggest "super-Earth" yet discovered, prompting scientists to dub it a "mega-Earth".
"This is the Godzilla of Earths! But unlike the movie monster,
Kepler-10c has positive implications for life," said CfA researcher
Dimitar Sasselov, director of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative, in
a press release.
Further analysis showed that the planet is likely composed of dense
rock and other solids, and is capable of sustaining an atmosphere.
"Kepler-10c didn't lose its atmosphere over time. It's massive enough
to have held onto one if it ever had it. (The planet) must have formed
the way we see it now," said Xavier Dumusque, who led the data analysis
and made the discovery.
The world as we know it
The planet has also caused scientists to re-assess what we know about the history of the universe.
At 11 billion years old, Kepler 10-c was formed less than 3 billion
years after the Big Bang—a time when the heavier elements that make up
everything else in the universe, from people to planets, weren't
believed to have existed yet.
"Finding
Kepler-10c tells us that rocky planets could form much earlier than we
thought. And if you can make rocks, you can make life," says Sasselov.
First spotted by NASA's Kepler spacecraft, Kepler-10c orbits a sunlike
star in the Draco constellation once every 45 days. The star system is
also home to Kepler 10-b, a "lava world" three times the mass of Earth
with a 20-hour orbit. — GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
