Space Journal Entry

Space Journal Entry

Another Earth-Like Exoplanet Found (January 4, 2010)

Astronomers spotted another Earth-like exoplanet. The planet is made up mostly of water and has an atmosphere. But its oceans are scorchingly hot, with surface temperatures of about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. It's likely surrounded by thick fog composed of superheated steam and other gases. Although its environment is not suitable for living things, the discovery gives astronomers hope that other exoplanets more hospitable to life will be found sooner rather than later.

This exoplanet known as GJ1214b is a "super-Earth" with a mass about six times that of our home planet. Its radius is 2.7 times larger than Earth's. The planet orbits its star at a distance 70 times closer than Earth is to the Sun. Its parent star is a red dwarf star that's "only" 40 light-years away from Earth. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).

Astronomers discovered the first exoplanet in 1995 and have spotted about 400 others since. But so far, they've all been either been too hot, too cold, or too gaseous to support life. Most are gas giants more massive than Jupiter. Last year, astronomers found the first confirmed rocky exoplanet. Like GJ1214b, it's not in the habitable zone of its solar system. NASA launched the Kepler spacecraft to hunt for exoplanets last year as well. The mission got off to a great start.