The most exotic new planets 2012

Here are the strangest new planets discovered by astronomers in 2012, according to Live Science magazine.

1. Planets can survive life

In 2012, astronomers announced they had discovered two new planets HD 40307g and Gliese 163c that could survive life outside the Solar System. Because both planets are in an area where the star's orbits can exist.

Planet HD 40307g has 7 times the mass of Earth. One year of the planet is equivalent to 200 days on our planet. It lies at a distance far enough away from the parent star so that it can rotate around the axis instead of having a permanent face towards the parent star, much like the Moon revolves around the Earth. This makes it similar to day and night time as Earth.

Like HD 40307g, the planet Gliese 163c weighs more than 7 times the Earth and has a 26-day orbit around the red dwarf Gliese 163 in the constellation Dorado - 49 years from our planet.

2. The planet has 4 stars

American astronomers, British and a group of volunteers found the planet has four stars after observing at the Keck Observatory on the Hawaiian Islands, USA.Planet PH1 is located nearly 5,000 light-years from Earth and has a volume of more than 6 times. The two stars revolve around this gas planet and it revolves around two other stars. Astronomers have never discovered such a planet.

3. The binary star system can survive life

Scientists have discovered two newly discovered planets, named Kepler-34b and Kepler-35b , orbiting a binary star system. Especially, the two planets Kepler-34b and Kepler-35b are located near the area that can survive life in the orbits of the binary star system.

Kepler-34b is a giant gas planet with 70 times the mass of Earth. It revolves around two stars with our Sun with a trajectory of 289 days. Meanwhile, Kepler-35b has a smaller mass and has orbit around the double star about 131 days.

4. Planetary system orbits two stars

Scientists have for the first time discovered a planetary system orbiting two stars. The planetary system, named Kepler-47, consists of two stars orbiting each other on a 7.5-day cycle. One of the stars is similar to our Sun, while the other is only about 1/3 and dimmer than 175 times.

The two planets of Kepler-47 are Kepler-47b and Kepler-47c . While Kepler-47b is three times bigger than Earth and revolves around two 50-day mother stars, Kepler-47c is 4.5 times larger than Earth and revolves around two maternal stars. 303 days.

5. Planet closest to Earth

Astronomers have discovered a planet closest to Earth outside the solar system. The planet orbits Alpha Centauri B star - one of the three stars of Alpha Centauri star system, about 4 light-years away. However, the new planet is too hot, with surfaces like lava melting so there is no life.

6. Discover 3 planets smaller than Earth

Most newly discovered planets have masses many times higher than Earth because they are easy to find. However, thanks to data from the Kepler telescope of the US Space Agency (NASA), astronomers discovered three planets smaller than Earth, orbiting the star KOI-961 only about 1/6 of our Sun.

The planets orbiting the red dwarf KOI-961, have a diameter of only 0.78, 0.73 and 0.57 the diameter of the Earth and are the smallest planets ever discovered. The smallest planet discovered before is about the size of Mars.

7. Super planets are 13 times bigger than Jupiter

Using the Subaru telescope with a diameter of 8m in Japan on Mount Mauna Kea in Hawaii, astronomers from the Goddard Space Flight Center of the US Space Agency (NASA) have discovered a giant planet 13 times bigger than Jupiter.

The new planet, named Kappa Andromedae b, orbiting the Kappa Andromedae star is 2.5 times more massive than the Sun and lies about 170 light-years from our Earth. Scientists say that in terms of size, Kappa Andromedae b can be classified as a giant group of planets or can be considered a brown dwarf.