Happiness is a Warm Super-Earth

Super-Earths forming around alien stars may be pushed close to their stellar companions through the influence of gravity, new research from Penn State reveals. Computer simulations showing this behavior could answer some basic questions about the development of solar systems around alien stars.

Planets form from dust and small grains of matter orbiting in proto-planetary disks surrounding nascent stars. Within our Solar System, the smallest planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) are found close to the Sun, while the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn are further out, and the…