First Earth-like planet spotted outside solar system likely a volcanic wasteland
Thursday, January 7, 2010 - 01:28
in Astronomy & Space
When scientists confirmed in October that they had detected the first rocky planet outside our solar system, it advanced the longtime quest to find an Earth-like planet hospitable to life. The rocky planet CoRoT-7 b is, however, a forbidding place. If its orbit is not almost perfectly circular, then the planet might be undergoing continuous, fierce volcanic eruptions.