Earth sized lava world discovered

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In summary: The planet would collect mass at a rate of 2.5*10^8 to 2.5*10^10kg/s. This gives a stopping timescale of 7.5 to 750 million years.
  • #1
Jupiter60
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I've recently read that an Earth sized planet that is a lava world orbit its star closer than Mercury orbits the Sun that was recently discovered.

http://local.msn.com/new-planet-discovered-with-a-lava-ocean-and-an-8-hour-year

There is a place where the surface is lava and a year is only 8 ½ hours long. It sounds like fiction, but it's actually a planet 700 light-years away from Earth, Slate magazine reports. It's the latest exoplanet that astronomers have discovered using the now-defunct Kepler space telescope, and NASA researchers are calling it "amazing."
 
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  • #2
Jupiter60 said:
I've recently read that an Earth sized planet that is a lava world orbit its star closer than Mercury orbits the Sun that was recently discovered.

Do you have a link for the news story?
 
  • #4
Okay. Did you have some kind of question about it?
 
  • #5
No. Not really. I just find it to be an interesting find. Apparently, if I'm not mistaken from reading that article, it is closer to its star than it was thought that a planet can be. I may have misread though and that's not actually the case.
 
  • #6
Hotter, closer, shorter year (and probably denser as well)
It is unclear how those planets formed and how their orbits developed, but that's just our lack of knowledge about planet formation in general. Up to 20 years ago, there was just one known example of a planetary system.
 
  • #7
They're orbiting a non-main sequence star.
 
  • #8
Jupiter60 said:
They're orbiting a non-main sequence star.
I think that just makes the planets around Kepler-70 even more surprising. For a while, the planets orbited in the star!
 
  • #9
mfb said:
I think that just makes the planets around Kepler-70 even more surprising. For a while, the planets orbited in the star!

Any idea what the density of a red giant's atmosphere is at that distance?
 
  • #10
Hmm... with values from Wikipedia:
The current average density of the sun is 1400kg/m^3, but most of the volume has a density of less than 20g/m^3, with less than .2g/m^3 in the outer 30% of its diameter). In the late stages of hydrogen burning, it will increase its radius by a factor of 200. In addition, it loses some mass. If the relative densities stay the same (they probably won't), this would reduce the density by a factor of ~10 million, leaving 200ng/m^3 to 2 µg/m^3. That is a good vacuum.

With the latter value and an orbital velocity of 100km/s (arbitrary value), not including gravitational interactions with the gas, a planet of the size of Earth would collect mass at a rate of 2.5*10^8 to 2.5*10^10kg/s. This gives a stopping timescale of 7.5 to 750 million years. Not so wrong...
 
  • #11
Nice find Jupiter60, now with less speculation we can calculate what will happen to planets Mercury and Venus a billion years from now.
 

What is an "Earth sized lava world"?

An "Earth sized lava world" is a planet that has similar dimensions and composition to Earth, but with a significant amount of molten lava covering its surface.

How was this planet discovered?

This planet was discovered using the transit method, where scientists observe changes in a star's brightness as a planet passes in front of it. The planet's size and distance from its star were then determined, revealing its lava-covered surface.

What is the significance of this discovery?

This discovery is significant because it expands our understanding of the types of planets that can exist in our universe. It also provides insight into the extreme conditions and environments that can support life.

Could life exist on this planet?

It is unlikely that life could exist on an Earth sized lava world, as the extreme temperatures and lack of stability would make it difficult for life to survive. However, further research may reveal the possibility of extremophile organisms living in these conditions.

What does this discovery mean for our understanding of planetary formation?

This discovery challenges our current theories of planetary formation, as it shows that planets with Earth-like dimensions can have vastly different surface compositions. It also raises questions about the potential for other types of unique planets in our universe.

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