MIT researchers have teamed up with scientists from other institutions to find a new planet that is the size of Earth and orbits its parent star in just 3.14 days. The so-called “pie planet” was first discovered in 2017 when Kepler’s K2 mission discovered planetary signs. This year, researchers zeroed in on the system using speculus, a network of ground-based telescopes.
Using this system Team Kepler was able to confirm the signals that a planet was actually orbiting a star. Researchers say that the planet moves like a “clockwork” with the “pie earth” and orbits the star in a complete circle in 3.14 days. The official name of the planet is K2-315b, the 315th planetary system discovered using K2’s data.
Researchers estimate that the size of the planet Earth is 0.95 which makes it equal to the size of the Earth. It orbits a cool, low-mass star about one-fifth the size of the Sun. To make its key so fast, the planet revolves around its star at 81 kilometers per second or about 181,000 meters per hour. Scientists have not yet determined the mass of the planet, but it is suspected that the planet is like Earth.
Researchers do not believe that the planet is habitable because its orbit brings the planet closer to the star so that the earth can be heated to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Researchers say that in the common sense of phrases, temperature does not remain.
According to scientists, the planet is a promising candidate to follow-up with the James Webb Space Telescope to try and learn the details of its environment. Currently, scientists are using data sets to learn more about other planets, including TES.
