spacetoday.net: Astronomers discover two closely orbiting exoplanets

Posted: Fri, Jun 22, 2012, 8:22 AM ET (1222 GMT)
Kepler-36b and c (NASA/JPL)

Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler spacecraft said Thursday they have discovered two dissimilar extrasolar planets with orbits very close to each other. The planets, designated Kepler-36b and c, orbit the same star 1,200 light-years from Earth in orbits only 1.9 million kilometers from each other. The inner planet, Kepler-36b, appears to be a "super-Earth" 4.5 times the mass and 1.5 times the radius of the Earth. The outer planer, Kepler-36c, is 3.7 times the radius and 8 times the mass of the Earth and is probably more like Neptune than the Earth. The worlds are two of 74 exoplanets confirmed by Kepler to date, with more than 2,000 candidate planets awaiting followup observations and confirmation.