Exoplanet twice as large as the newly discovered Earth

A team of international researchers, made up of scientists from Canada, the United States and Germany, reported that, based on data collected by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, they had discovered an exoplanet twice as large as Earth.

This exoplanet located about 145 light-years from Earth, in the constellation of the Virgin, and called Wolf 503b.

The study was led by Merrin Peterson, a young doctoral student at the Exoplanets Research Institute (iREx) of the University of Montreal.

"In the last decade, most of the planets found by NASA's Kepler telescope are smaller than Neptune, but larger than the Earth. However, recent studies on the distribution of planets in the range of 1 to 4 terrestrial radii have revealed a significant population fall between 1.5 and 2 terrestrial radii, known as Fulton. The origin of this division is not well understood, "said Peterson.

Specialists assure that the nature study of Wolf 503b will give them a better overview to understand the structures of the planets with this radius and this distance with their host star, as well as an overview of the biodiversity of the exoplanets present in our galaxy.

After measuring the radius of this exoplanet and the distribution rate of the occurrence, Wolf 503b provides a decisive opportunity to better understand the origin of the Fulton gap.