Apod 1.4 CoRoT

As astronomers continue to search for another Earth-like planet in the universe, many new but uninhabitable (for humans) planets have been discovered. These new discoveries have really enhanced our knowledge of the universe. Before the recent explosion of new planets many light-years away, barely any planets were known outside of our solar system. Recent discoveries have provided so much information that almost everyone thinks that it is possible that another Earth-like planet really does exist. Unfortunately, the new discovery, CoRoT-7b, is not that similar to Earth. Although it is only 5 times the mass of Earth and its radius is equivalent to 1.7 Earths, CoRoT-7b's orbit is smaller than that of Mercury. Orbiting around a star similar to the Sun, CoRoT-7b has an orbit that only lasts 20 Earth-hours. Since the new planet is very close to the star, the planet is far too hot for human habitation. CoRoT-7b is thought to be composed of rock. It was discovered by slight variations in the brightness of the star it orbits.