Found! 2 Earth-Size Alien Planets, the Smallest Exoplanets Yet
by Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing Editor
Date: 20 December 2011 Time: 01:00 PM ET
Found! 2 Earth-Size Alien Planets, the Smallest Exoplanets Yet
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http://www.space.com/13990-2-earth-size ... orlds.html
This story was updated at 1:54 p.m. ET.
Two planets orbiting a star 950 light-years from Earth are the smallest, most Earth-size alien worlds known, astronomers announced today (Dec. 20). One of the planets is actually smaller than Earth, scientists say.
An artist's rendering of the newfound alien planet Kepler-20e, which scientists say is smaller than Earth, at about 0.87 times the width of our planet.
CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle
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These planets, while roughly the size of our planet Earth, are circling very close to their star, giving them fiery temperatures that are most likely too hot to support life, researchers said. The discovery, however, brings scientists one step closer to finding a true twin of Earth that may be habitable.
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YAY!
Found! 2 Earth-Size Alien Planets, the Smallest Exoplanets Y
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