NASA's Kepler finds exoplanet smaller than Mercury
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Cutaway of the Kepler spacecraft (Image: NASA)
Artist's concept of Kepler-37b (Image: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech)
The planets of Kepler-37 compared to the Solar System's inner worlds (Image: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech
The Kepler spacecraft (Image: NASA)
The Kepler spacecraft (Image: NASA)
Article Summary
NASA’s Kepler space probe has discovered the smallest planet yet orbiting a Sun-like star. Dubbed Kepler-37b, the exoplanet orbits the star Kepler-37 about 210 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. It’s only one-third the size of Earth and smaller than Mercury, which makes it not only the smallest planet yet found outside the Solar System, but the smallest planet ever discovered.
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