Astronomers discover a giant, rocky 'mega-Earth' 23 times more massive than our planet

New “Mega-Earth” Is Massive, On a Very Strange Orbit, And Shouldn't Really Exist

Something this massive really has no right to not be larger – it’s breaking all the rules.

Astronomers Discover Rocky 170-million-year-old 'mega-Earth' That Defies Planet Formation Theories

Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. In a discovery that challenges current theories of planetary formation, astronomers have discovered an unusually dense, giant exoplanet that boasts 23 times the weight of Earth while remaining predominantly rocky. The 170-million-year-old planet is more than 2.5 times larger than Earth! World News | Astronomers Discover Rocky 170-million-year-old 'mega-Earth' That Defies Planet Formation Theo…

Astronomers discover rocky 170-million-year-old mega-Earth that defies planet formation theories - The Tribune

In a discovery that challenges current theories of planetary formation, astronomers have discovered an unusually dense, giant exoplanet that boasts 23 times the weight of Earth while remaining predominantly rocky. The 170-million-year-old planet is more than 2.5 times larger than Earth!

At 23.5 times Earth’s mass, GJ 523b is massive enough that standard planet-formation models struggle to explain why it didn’t accumulate a huge hydrogen-helium envelope — yet the planet is extraordinarily dense and apparently mostly rock, and astronomers still don’t know how it ended up that way.

GJ 523b looks ordinary until astronomers put it on a scale. The planet is 2.55 times Earth’s radius, placing it among the sub-Neptunes that usually carry deep layers of volatile material or hydrogen and helium. Yet it weighs 23.5 Earth masses. Pack that much material into its measured volume and the result is a bulk density of 7.8 grams per cubic centimetre, about 40 percent greater than Earth’s. It is a planet with the dimensions of one familia…

Researchers identify 'Mega-Earth,' prompting questions of how it formed

The exoplanet is 170 million years old and weighs more than 23 times Earth's mass while being just 2 1/2 times its size.

Astronomers discover a giant, rocky 'mega-Earth' 23 times more massive than our planet

Astronomers have discovered an unusually massive, dense exoplanet that challenges conventional ideas about how rocky planets form.Called GJ 523b, the exoplanet is about 2.5 times wider than Earth but packs roughly 23 times our planet's mass into that relatively compact size. Worlds this large and dense are sometimes referred to as "mega-Earths," an informal term for unusually massive, predominantly rocky planets. GJ 523b's high density suggests …