Detecting new exoplanets is twice as large as Earth

Researchers from Canada, the US and Germany have discovered a new planet named Wolf 503b, which is twice as big as Earth, reported IBTimes on September 6.

Compare the size of the Earth, Wolf 503b and Neptune (from left to right).(Photo: NASA)

This is in the constellation Virgo, about 145 light-years away. Data from the Kepler Space Telescope of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) show that the distance from Wolf 503b to the host star is 10 times smaller than the distance between Mercury and the Sun. Therefore, Wolf 503b only takes 6 days to complete an orbit.

According to Merrin Peterson, head of research at the University of Montreal (Canada), the conditions on the outer planet Wolf 503b are not suitable for life . Basically, the surface temperature of this planet is very high because it flies too close to the host star.

The team thinks that the size of the Wolf 503b plays an important role in helping scientists understand the nature of 'super-Earths' with planets smaller than Neptune outside the solar system.