• Hot, metallic, Earth-sized planet with a density similar to Mercury detected 339 light years away and characterised by global team of astronomers, including the University of Warwick

  • K2-229b is 20% larger than Earth but has a mass 2.6 times greater - and a dayside temperature of over 2000°C

  • Discovering details about far-flung planets across the universe gives us more clues as to how planets in our own solar system formed

    • A hot, metallic, Earth-sized planet with a density similar to Mercury - situated 339 light years away - has been detected and characterised by a global team of astronomers, including the University of Warwick.

    Named K2-229b, the planet is almost 20% larger than Earth but has a mass which is over two-and-a-half times greater –and reaches a dayside temperature of over 2000°C (2330 Kelvin).

    Read more at University of Warwick

    Image: This is Dr. David Armstrong from the University of Warwick's Astronomy and Astrophysics Group. (Credit: University of Warwick)