A new 'puffy' planet has been discovered in the Kepler-47 system
Kepler-47 is a 3.5-billion-year-old star system about 3,340 light years away from Earth. It's one of nine systems that we know of that are "binary star systems," which means it has not one star at its heart, but two. And it's the only one we know that has two planets orbiting around it: Kepler-47b and Kepler-47c.
Well, make that three.
Scientists have officially confirmed the existence of a third planet orbiting the binary stars of Kepler-47, and have appropriately dubbed it Kepler-47d, Space reported. The newly discovered planet is about seven times bigger than Earth, making it the largest planet in its system, roughly double the size of Kepler-47b and c.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The discovery, announced in The Astronomical Journal on Tuesday, is big news for the team that discovered it. Kepler-47d's orbit lies in between Kepler-47b's and Kepler-47c's, even though scientists theorized that any additional planets would be found further away from the stars.
The Kepler-47 trio is helping scientists learn about so-called "puffy" planets, which are gas planets with a large size but a very low density. Even the puffiest planet in our solar system, Saturn, is much denser than any of the Kepler planets. The information we can learn about them will help us understand more of the "loosely packed, low-density planets" in our solar system, said Jonathan Fortney, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Read more at Space.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraud
Speed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
DOJ seeks breakup of Google, Chrome
Speed Read The Justice Department aims to force Google to sell off Chrome and make other changes to rectify its illegal search monopoly
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
What can Elon Musk's cost-cutting task force actually cut?
Talking Points A $2 trillion goal. And big obstacles in the way.
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was right
Speed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular stories
Speed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
A giant meteor did double duty on Earth billions of years ago
Under the Radar Nutrients from the impact led to a "fertilizer bomb"
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an ocean
Speed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Detailed map of fly's brain holds clues to human mind
Speed Read This remarkable fruit fly brain analysis will aid in future human brain research
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Earth may be gaining a temporary moon
Under the radar A planetary plus-one
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
The hunt for Planet Nine
Under The Radar Researchers seeking the elusive Earth-like planet beyond Neptune are narrowing down their search
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Winchcombe meteorite: space rock may reveal how water came to Earth
The Explainer New analysis of its violent journey confirms scientific theories on the origin of our planet's H2O
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published