News in Brief Astronomy

An Earth-sized hell circles faraway star

The recently discovered, very hot rocky planet is the smallest with known diameter and mass

SCORCHED  An artist’s impression of Kepler-78b shows its nearby star and blistering-hot surface.

Jasiek Krzysztofiak/Nature

By Gabriel Popkin

- More than 2 years ago

A distant Earth-sized planet’s density suggests it is made of the same stuff as Earth. The planet, named Kepler-78b, is the smallest exoplanet for which researchers know both size and mass.