2021/12/02 by K. W. F. Lam, Kristine W. F. Lam, Szilárd Csizmadia +119 · 74 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrobiology #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Earth (classical element) #Exoplanet #Period (music) #Physics #Planet #Star (game theory) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Super-Earth #astro-ph.EP
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.aay3253
published in Science 374(6572), 1271-1275 (American Association for the Advancement of Science) · Note: "This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science , (2021-12-03), doi: 10.1126/science.aay3253"
arxiv created 2021/12/02 · openalex publication_date 2021/12/02 · arxiv updated 2021/12/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
A nearby iron-rich sub-Earth planet The mass and radius of an exoplanet determine its mean density, which provides information about the possible interior structure. Lam et al . have identified a planet on a 7.7-hour orbit around a nearby red dwarf star. The authors determined the planet’s radius from the transit, then used radial velocity observations to measure the mass. They found a sub-Earth–sized planet with a density almost equivalent to pure iron. Its high surface temperature is close to the vaporization point of iron, suggesting that it is the iron core of a planet that has lost its outer mantle. —KTS