What if Kepler-36c had a city? | Space

Here is an imaginary view of a planet-rise from a city on a faraway planet, known to earthly astronomers as Kepler-36c. It’s recently been found to be part of the closest two-planet system yet discovered. When the two worlds are closet, say the astronomers, the co-orbiting gas giant planet Kepler-36c would span three times more sky than a full moon does from Earth.

Imaginary planetrise from hypothetical city (really, Seattle) on faraway planet Kepler-36c.

The distant exoplanet Kepler-36c – thought to be a gas giant world – is shown in this image as a NASA pic of Neptune.

The Seattle skyline pic is from Frank Melchior.

Eric Algol at University of Washington put this montage together.

Bottom line: Imaginary planetrise from a hypothetical city (really, Seattle) on faraway planet Kepler-36c. Astronomers believe that Kepler-36c and Kepler-36b constitute closest two-planet system yet found.

Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.