Astronomy
- Big Planet, Small Star
One of the smallest stars in the Galaxy has been found to have a planet orbiting it that is six times more massive than Jupiter. This gas giant is as far from its star as Mercury is from our Sun, but because the star is so small, it is like a scaled...
- A Nearby Watery Planet
A new rocky planet, GJ 1214b, has been found very close to the solar system, one of a few hundred exoplanets currently known. Making this discovery special, though, is that the planet contains water, being almost completely covered by it, and that its...
- A Large Planet Orbiting A Small Star
An artist's conception of the planetary system. Astrometry, a 50 year old technique used to find exoplanets, planets around other stars, has finally succeeded. Planets outside the solar system are nearly impossible to see, so the method relies on...
- Another Extrasolar Planet
The picture above is the first picture of a planet (top-left) orbiting a sun-like star. It was taken by the 270-inch diameter Gemini North Telescope, located on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The star, 1RXS J160929.1-210524, is located in the Scorpius constellation,...
- Corot
COROT or COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits has launched today at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It is a project of the French national space agency. It's two and a half year mission will find extrasolar planet, or a planet that does not...
Astronomy
Fastest moving planet
A small planet known as CoRoT-7b which is 500 light years from Earth and is the fastest moving planet known . It is moving around its star every 20.4 hours and is confirmed as a rocky planet.
CoRoT-7b is a rare breed of exoplanets with masses just a few times that of Earth.
- Big Planet, Small Star
One of the smallest stars in the Galaxy has been found to have a planet orbiting it that is six times more massive than Jupiter. This gas giant is as far from its star as Mercury is from our Sun, but because the star is so small, it is like a scaled...
- A Nearby Watery Planet
A new rocky planet, GJ 1214b, has been found very close to the solar system, one of a few hundred exoplanets currently known. Making this discovery special, though, is that the planet contains water, being almost completely covered by it, and that its...
- A Large Planet Orbiting A Small Star
An artist's conception of the planetary system. Astrometry, a 50 year old technique used to find exoplanets, planets around other stars, has finally succeeded. Planets outside the solar system are nearly impossible to see, so the method relies on...
- Another Extrasolar Planet
The picture above is the first picture of a planet (top-left) orbiting a sun-like star. It was taken by the 270-inch diameter Gemini North Telescope, located on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The star, 1RXS J160929.1-210524, is located in the Scorpius constellation,...
- Corot
COROT or COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits has launched today at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It is a project of the French national space agency. It's two and a half year mission will find extrasolar planet, or a planet that does not...