Astronomers find Jupiter- and Saturn-like exoplanets around distant star
Posted: Fri, Feb 15, 2008, 7:28 AM ET (1228 GMT)
A collaboration of professional and amateur astronomers has discovered two exoplanets, smaller versions of Jupiter and Saturn, orbiting a distant star. Astronomers used a technique called microlensing, where the gravity of an intervening object acts as a magnifying lens, briefly brightening a more distant object. The two planets were detected as "blips" during a microlensing event when their star, 5,000 light-years from Earth, passed in front of a more distant star. The two planets are about 80 percent the size of Jupiter and Saturn, and astronomers said the overall solar system is a smaller analog of our own solar system.
A collaboration of professional and amateur astronomers has discovered two exoplanets, smaller versions of Jupiter and Saturn, orbiting a distant star. Astronomers used a technique called microlensing, where the gravity of an intervening object acts as a magnifying lens, briefly brightening a more distant object. The two planets were detected as "blips" during a microlensing event when their star, 5,000 light-years from Earth, passed in front of a more distant star. The two planets are about 80 percent the size of Jupiter and Saturn, and astronomers said the overall solar system is a smaller analog of our own solar system.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
about spacetoday.net · info@spacetoday.net · mailing list |
