A whole new planet with amazing characteristics has been discovered by astronomers.

Named "GJ 367 b", it revolves around its star and completes its orbit much faster than the Earth does around the Sun.

So a year on this planet lasts only 7.7 hours,

Newsweek

reports

.

A team including #PrincetonU professor Joshua Winn have discovered GJ 367b, a exoplanet with the density close to that of pure iron.

https://t.co/m9NTxyHAqI (via @sciam)

- Princeton University (@Princeton) December 4, 2021

1.482 degrees approximately

"GJ 367 b" is therefore an "ultra short period" (USP) planet, with a daytime temperature of around 1,482 degrees, far too hot to hope to be able to set foot there one day.

This excessively high temperature is due to its star, the red dwarf GJ 376, which is very close to the planet.

As a result, it receives 500 times more radiation from this star than the Earth can receive from the Sun, says

Slate

, who relays the information.

The size of Mars with the composition of Mercury

“GJ 367 b” is also one of the lightest planets ever discovered outside the solar system.

Its solid core is made up of iron and nickel, like that of Mercury, reports

Space.com

.

“We find a planet the size of Mars that is made up of Mercury,” explained Roland Vanderspek, a senior researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Thanks to this discovery, specialists hope to be able to learn more about these planets known as “ultra short period”.

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  • March

  • Astronomy

  • Space

  • Planet

  • Science

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