Wednesday, June 4, 2014

The "Mega Earth"

                                    The "Mega Earth"

The "Mega Earth" is known as the planet Kepler 10-C. The planet is a massive solid planet which weighs 17 more times than earth and is about 2.3 times larger than the earth. The planet is located 560 light years from the Earth. Planets as massive as Kepler 10-C should in theory accumulate hydrogen gas and become a gas giant, but this planet is composed of heavy solids. The planet orbits a sun-like star every forty-five days. The Kepler-10 solar system was formed at least 11 billion years ago, suggesting that the heavy solids appeared much earlier than previously suggested.