Video Experimental Relacionado
Updated: May 14, 2026
06:48
Surface Mapping of Earth-like Exoplanets using Single Point Light Curves
Published on: May 10, 2020
Un exoplaneta del tamaño de un submercurio
Thomas Barclay1, Jason F Rowe, Jack J Lissauer
1NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA. thomas.barclay@nasa.gov
Nature
|February 22, 2013
Resumen
Los astrónomos descubrieron Kepler-37b, el exoplaneta más pequeño encontrado hasta ahora, significativamente más pequeño que Mercurio. Este pequeño y probablemente rocoso mundo orbita alrededor de una estrella similar al Sol, ofreciendo nuevos conocimientos sobre la diversidad de los sistemas planetarios.
Área de la Ciencia:
- La ciencia exoplanetaria es la ciencia de los exoplanetas.
- Planetología comparada y planetología comparada.
Sus antecedentes:
- Los descubrimientos de exoplanetas revelan diversos sistemas planetarios diferentes al nuestro.
- Los avances recientes permiten la detección de exoplanetas del tamaño de la Tierra y más pequeños.
- Anteriormente, no se había identificado ningún exoplaneta más pequeño que los de nuestro Sistema Solar.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Para informar sobre el descubrimiento de un exoplaneta significativamente más pequeño que Mercurio.
- Para caracterizar el exoplaneta más pequeño encontrado hasta la fecha y su estrella anfitriona.
Principales métodos:
- Utilizando datos de fotometría de tránsito del Telescopio Espacial Kepler.
- Analizar las variaciones de la curva de luz para determinar el tamaño planetario y los parámetros orbitales.
Principales resultados:
- Descubrimiento de Kepler-37b, un exoplaneta más pequeño que Mercurio y comparable en tamaño a la Luna.
- Kepler-37b es el más interno de los tres planetas que orbitan la estrella similar al Sol Kepler-37.
- El pequeño tamaño del planeta y la proximidad a su estrella sugieren una probable composición rocosa sin atmósfera ni agua.
Conclusiones:
- Kepler-37b representa un nuevo límite inferior para los tamaños de exoplanetas detectados.
- El descubrimiento pone de relieve la gran diversidad de cuerpos planetarios en otros sistemas estelares.
- Un estudio más profundo de estos pequeños exoplanetas es crucial para comprender la formación y evolución de los planetas.
Videos de Conceptos Relacionados
01:29Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion
In the early 17th century, German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler postulated three laws for the motion of planets in the solar system. His first law states that all planets orbit the Sun in an elliptical orbit, with the Sun at one of the ellipse's foci. Therefore, the distance of a planet from the Sun varies throughout its revolution around the Sun.
While in an elliptical orbit, the total energy of the planet is conserved. Therefore, the planet slows down when it is at apogee and...
While in an elliptical orbit, the total energy of the planet is conserved. Therefore, the planet slows down when it is at apogee and...
01:18Kepler's Third Law of Planetary Motion
In the early 17th century, German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler postulated three laws for the motion of planets in the solar system. In 1909, he formulated his first two laws based on the observations of his forebears, Nikolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe. However, in 1918, he published his third law of planetary motion, which gives a precise mathematical relationship between a planet's average distance from the Sun and the amount of time it takes to revolve around the Sun. It...
01:10Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion
In the early 17th century, German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler postulated three laws for the motion of planets in the solar system. He formulated his first two laws based on the observations of his forebears, Nikolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe.
Polish astronomer Nikolaus Copernicus put forth a theory that stated a heliocentric model for the solar system. According to this heliocentric theory, all the planets, including Earth, orbit the Sun in circular orbits.
On the other hand,...
Polish astronomer Nikolaus Copernicus put forth a theory that stated a heliocentric model for the solar system. According to this heliocentric theory, all the planets, including Earth, orbit the Sun in circular orbits.
On the other hand,...
01:21Schwarzschild Radius and Event Horizon
No object with a finite mass can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. This fact has an interesting consequence in the domain of extremely high gravitational fields.
The minimum speed required to launch a projectile from the surface of an object to which it is gravitationally bound so that it eventually escapes the object’s gravitational field is called the escape velocity. The escape velocity is independent of the mass of the object. Merging the idea of escape velocity with the...
The minimum speed required to launch a projectile from the surface of an object to which it is gravitationally bound so that it eventually escapes the object’s gravitational field is called the escape velocity. The escape velocity is independent of the mass of the object. Merging the idea of escape velocity with the...
03:37Subatomic Particles
Dalton was only partially correct about the particles that make up matter. All matter is composed of atoms, and atoms are composed of three smaller subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. These three particles account for the mass and the charge of an atom.
01:24Acceleration due to Gravity on Other Planets
The gravitational acceleration of an object near the Earth's surface is called the acceleration due to gravity. It can be measured by conducting simple experiments on Earth. However, such an experiment is impossible to conduct on the surface of other planets.
Astronomical observations are thus used to measure the acceleration due to gravity on other planets. This can be determined by observing the effect of a planet's gravity on objects close to it. The crucial factor that helps in this...
Astronomical observations are thus used to measure the acceleration due to gravity on other planets. This can be determined by observing the effect of a planet's gravity on objects close to it. The crucial factor that helps in this...