Astronomers have recently discovered a world 17 times the size of Earth and call it a 'Mega-Earth."

In the past, scientists have discovered many 'Super-Earths,' vast planets that are larger in size and mass than the Earth, but the latest discovery, astronomers say, is a league of its own.

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The Mega-Earth was discovered by NASA's Kepler space telescope and was announced at an astronomy meeting in Boston last Monday.

Astronomers officially named the newly discovered planet Kepler-10c and its size changed how massive rocky planets are formed without turning into a Jupiter-like planet, which is predominantly gaseous.

Astrophysicists and space theorists did not see the discovery coming. The traditional scientific view is that planets ten times bigger than the earth in terms of mass and size would generally accommodate more gas.

Kepler-10c defies the notion that bigger planets like Jupiter and Saturn are home to more hydrogen. Instead, the Mega-Earth is evidence that giant planets can also stay rocky with its surfaces defined rather than gaseous and bloated.

According to the discovery, Kepler-10c is a very old planet and was estimated to have been formed 11 billion years ago. Astronomers find the age of the giant planet interesting because it was formed less than 3 billion after the universe began. At the time, many in the scientific community believed that rocky worlds have not existed yet.

Astronomers said that the planet is not likely host to life because it is too close to its parent star. The Kepler space telescope showed that the giant planet's surface is thoroughly roasted.

Also, the giant planet's gravitational pull is nearly three times of what we have on Earth which makes it impossible for living creatures to move around. Kepler-10c, the discovery showed, is much denser down to its core.

 "It's still rock, but it's rock that's twice as dense as the rock we're used to," said Dimitar Sasselov, Harvard University professor of astronomy and a co-author of the paper describing the Mega-Earth.

TagsKepler space telescope, Kepler-10c, Mega-Earth, Astronomy