一个地球大小的行星,密度与地球相似
Francesco Pepe1, Andrew Collier Cameron, David W Latham
1Observatoire Astronomique de l'Université de Genève, 51 chemin des Maillettes, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland.
Nature
|November 1, 2013
概括
开普勒-78b是一个地球大小的系外行星,其密度与地球相似,表明其岩石和铁组成. 这一发现有助于确定开普勒航天器发现的小型系外行星的组成.
科学领域:
- 外系行星科学 外系行星科学
- 行星地质学 行星地质学
背景情况:
- 数以千计的地球大小的系外行星已经被NASA的开普勒航天器探测到.
- 这些系外行星的大体组成在很大程度上是未知的,因为质量确定存在挑战.
研究的目的:
- 要确定地球大小的系外行星开普勒-78b的质量和密度.
- 推断开普勒-78b的大部分组成并将其与地球进行比较.
主要方法:
- 利用开普勒航天器的运输光度数据来识别开普勒-78b.
- 采用辐射速度测量来确定开普勒-78b的质量.
主要成果:
- 开普勒-78b的半径是地球半径的1.16倍.
- 开普勒-78b的质量被确定为1.86地球质量.
- 开普勒-78b的平均密度为5.57gcm-3,相当于地球的密度.
结论:
- 开普勒-78b很可能主要由铁和岩石组成,类似于地球.
- 这项研究为了解地球大小的系外行星的组成提供了关键数据.
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