Kepler Discovers System with Three Planets Smaller than Earth

Jan 11, 2012 - Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler mission have discovered the cutest planet system yet: three planets, the smallest yet found, orbiting a red dwarf, the system being comparable to the size of the Jupiter-moon system. The planets orbit a single star, called KOI-961, and are 0.78, 0.73 and 0.57 times the radius of Earth. The smallest is about the size of Mars. This is a remarkable demonstration of the exquisite planet-finding capability of the Kepler instrument. This is my own compilation. Michael500ca.