Definition
The exoplanet CoRoT-7b is the seventh planet detected via transit photometry (Fig. 1) by the European space telescope, CoRoT (Léger et al. 2009). With a radius of ~1.6 Earth radii (Fig. 2), this planet is the first terrestrial-like planet found outside our solar system. CoRoT-7b revolves around its central star in a very short-period orbit of 20 h making this planet one of the few with extremely small orbital periods. The close proximity of this planet to its Sun-like host star (which is about 500 light-years away) implies that it must experience extreme conditions. For instance, its surface may be covered by lava or boiling oceans (Fig. 3). A total of two planets were detected in the system, and the companion CoRoT-7c has a period of 3.7 days (Queloz et al. 2009).
Light curve of CoRoT-7 showing 153 transits of CoRoT-7b
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References and Further Reading
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Haghighipour, N. (2022). CoRoT 7b. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5304-2
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