--- title: "Astronomers Discover “Pi Earth” Planet That Orbits Every 3.14 Days" description: "A team of scientists at MIT have discovered a \"pi Earth,\" an Earth-sized planet that orbits its star every 3.14 Earth days." date: "2020-09-21" modified: "2020-09-21" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/astronomers-discover-pi-earth-planet-orbits-3-14-days" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "exoplanet" - "Kepler" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # Astronomers Discover “Pi Earth” Planet That Orbits Every 3.14 Days ![A team of scientists at MIT have discovered a "pi Earth," an Earth-sized planet that orbits its star every 3.14 Earth days.]() *\Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\* ## Pi Earth A team of scientists at MIT [say they've discovered]() a "Pi Earth" — an Earth-sized planet that orbits its star every 3.14 Earth days. The team found the planet, dubbed K2-315b, by analyzing 2017 data from NASA's [Kepler]() Space Telescope's K2 mission. The scientists then zoomed in on the system using SPECULOOS, an international network of telescopes, designed to hunt for ultracool dwarf stars. "The planet moves like clockwork," Prajwal Niraula, MIT graduate student and lead author of [the paper]() published today in the *Astronomical Journal*, said in [a statement](). ## Served Warm "Everyone needs a bit of fun these days," co-author Julien de Wit, also of MIT, added. De Wit also authored the fitting title of the paper: "π Earth: a 3.14-day Earth-sized Planet from K2's Kitchen Served Warm by the SPECULOOS Team." K2-315b has a radius 0.95 that of Earth's and orbits a cool, low-mass star, which is about one fifth of a Solar mass. The planet's orbit is pretty tight, and circles its star at 81 kilometers per second, completing a full rotation in just 3.14 Earth days — hence its name. ## Fresh Out the Oven Unfortunately, its surface is at a hellish 350 degrees Fahrenheit. "This would be too hot to be habitable in the common understanding of the phrase," Niraula said — but just right to bake an actual pie, as MIT's press release points out. **READ MORE:** [Astronomers discover an Earth-sized 'pi planet' with a 3.14-day orbit]() \[MIT\] **More on Kepler planets:** *[An AI Just Confirmed the Existence of 50 Planets By Digging Through NASA Data]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()