SPACE

NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft was officially retired in August after a fatal malfunction, but new planets are still materializing in the vast data Kepler has already collected—including an Earth-size planet some 700 light-years away orbiting a star roughly the size of our sun. This bizarre planet, Kepler-78b, orbits its sun so quickly that a year there lasts only 8.5 hours, NationalGeographic.com reports. (click below to read more)
“We’ve gotten used to planets having orbits of a few days,” says MIT physicist Josh Winn. “But we wondered, what about a few hours? Is that even possible? And sure enough, there are some out there.” Kepler-78b’s speedy orbit is the result of it being 100 times closer to its host star than Earth is to the sun. Its surface is likely composed of molten lava, with temperatures up to 5,000 degrees. In fact, Kepler-78b is so close to its sun that researchers may be able to measure the tug of its gravity against the star, which would allow them to calculate its mass—a first for an Earth-size planet outside our solar system.