spacetoday.net: space news from around the webin association with SpaceNews


Multi-planet solar system discovered
Posted: Thu, May 18, 2006, 8:04 AM ET (1204 GMT)
HD 69830 solar system illustration (ESO) European astronomers have discovered three Neptune-sized exoplanets and a probable asteroid belt orbiting a Sunlike star. In a paper in the Thursday issue of the journal Nature, astronomers reported the discovery of the three exoplanets orbiting the star HD 69830, 41 light-years from Earth. All three have minimum masses of between 10 and 18 Earth masses, making them similar in size to Neptune. The innermost planet is thought to be a rocky world, while the outer two are gas giants; the outermost is at the inner edge of the star's habitability zone, where liquid water could exist. Astronomers also reported evidence of an asteroid belt encircling the star. The discovery was made using a high-resolution spectrograph at the European Southern Observatory, which was able to detect the minute Doppler shifts in the star's spectral lines caused by the planet's gravitational tugs.
<<previous article   next article>>
news in brief

SpaceX launches Indonesia communications satellite
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:07 AM ET (0807 GMT)

Soyuz launches Progress cargo spacecraft to ISS
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:06 AM ET (0806 GMT)

news links
Monday, September 15
SpaceX Launches Northrop Grumman Cargo Ship To ISS
Aviation Week — 1:18 am ET (0518 GMT)
SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Sunday
WESH-TV Orlando — 1:18 am ET (0518 GMT)


about spacetoday.net   ·   info@spacetoday.net   ·   mailing list