Fifth extrasolar planet found around star
Posted: Wed, Nov 7, 2007, 7:33 AM ET (1233 GMT)
Astronomers announced Tuesday the discovery of a fifth planet orbiting a nearby Sun-like star, creating a solar system near as complex as our own. The new planet is 45 times the mass of the Earth and orbits in the star's "habitable zone", completing one orbit in 260 days. The planet is the fifth discovered orbiting the star 51 Cancri, 41 light-years from Earth. Unlike the other four, believed to be gas giants ranging in size from Neptune to four times that of Jupiter, this planet is likely a large rocky planet. Astronomers suggested that any sizable moons orbiting the new planet could be able to support the presence of liquid water on its surface and thus life. The overall planetary system demonstrates to astronomers that complex planetary systems like our own are not necessarily unusual in the universe.
Astronomers announced Tuesday the discovery of a fifth planet orbiting a nearby Sun-like star, creating a solar system near as complex as our own. The new planet is 45 times the mass of the Earth and orbits in the star's "habitable zone", completing one orbit in 260 days. The planet is the fifth discovered orbiting the star 51 Cancri, 41 light-years from Earth. Unlike the other four, believed to be gas giants ranging in size from Neptune to four times that of Jupiter, this planet is likely a large rocky planet. Astronomers suggested that any sizable moons orbiting the new planet could be able to support the presence of liquid water on its surface and thus life. The overall planetary system demonstrates to astronomers that complex planetary systems like our own are not necessarily unusual in the universe.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, April 24
Rocket Lab Awarded New HASTE Launch Contract for the DOD by Kratos
Rocket Lab — 5:32 am ET (0932 GMT) Governors sound alarm about National Guard and Space Force plans
FederalNewsRadio.com — 5:32 am ET (0932 GMT) Cedar Park-based Firefly awarded new contract to develop new rocket engine technology
KVUE-TV Austin, TX — 5:31 am ET (0931 GMT) Rocket Lab secures chunk of another Pentagon programme
Radio New Zealand — 5:30 am ET (0930 GMT) Historic $1M donation to University of the Bahamas from SpaceX
Eyewitness News (Bahamas) — 5:29 am ET (0929 GMT) |
