Kepler-36 Planet Conjunction (IMAGE)

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Kepler-36 Planet Conjunction

Caption

In this artist's conception, a "hot Neptune" known as Kepler-36c looms in the sky of its neighbor, the rocky world Kepler-36b. The two planets have repeated close encounters, experiencing a conjunction every 97 days on average. At that time, they are separated by less than 5 Earth-Moon distances. Such close approaches stir up tremendous gravitational tides that squeeze and stretch both planets, which may promote active volcanism on Kepler-36b.

Credit

David A. Aguilar (CfA)

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