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09-01-2004, 07:07 AM
Astronomers Spot Smallest Planets Yet
By DENNIS OVERBYE
Published: August 31, 2004
The universe looks a little more familiar and friendlier today.
The roll call of planets beyond the solar system swelled significantly with the announcement of a trio of newly discovered worlds much smaller than any previously discovered around other stars. The masses of these new planets are comparable to those of Neptune or Uranus in our own solar system, ranging from about 14 times to 20 times the mass of the Earth.
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The previous planets found around living stars other than the sun have been giants like Jupiter or Saturn, at least 50 times the mass of the Earth, composed of gas at crushing pressures and scorching temperatures and unlikely abodes for life. Astronomers speculated that the new planets might be "ice giants" like Uranus and Neptune, or even giant hunks of iron and rock dubbed "super-Earths."
Like those earlier planets, the new planets are circling too close to their stars to be viable abodes for life. But their discovery, astronomers said, is an encouraging sign that planets are plentiful and varied in the galaxy and that a new generation of planet-hunting space missions planned for the next decade will find planets as small as the Earth.
"We're getting closer to answering the golden question of whether there is life out there. We're trying to find our own roots, chemically and biologically, in the stars," said Dr. Geoff Marcy, an astronomer and longtime planet hunter at the University of California at Berkeley.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/31/science/31CND-NEPTUNE.html
By DENNIS OVERBYE
Published: August 31, 2004
The universe looks a little more familiar and friendlier today.
The roll call of planets beyond the solar system swelled significantly with the announcement of a trio of newly discovered worlds much smaller than any previously discovered around other stars. The masses of these new planets are comparable to those of Neptune or Uranus in our own solar system, ranging from about 14 times to 20 times the mass of the Earth.
Advertisement
Free IQ Test
The previous planets found around living stars other than the sun have been giants like Jupiter or Saturn, at least 50 times the mass of the Earth, composed of gas at crushing pressures and scorching temperatures and unlikely abodes for life. Astronomers speculated that the new planets might be "ice giants" like Uranus and Neptune, or even giant hunks of iron and rock dubbed "super-Earths."
Like those earlier planets, the new planets are circling too close to their stars to be viable abodes for life. But their discovery, astronomers said, is an encouraging sign that planets are plentiful and varied in the galaxy and that a new generation of planet-hunting space missions planned for the next decade will find planets as small as the Earth.
"We're getting closer to answering the golden question of whether there is life out there. We're trying to find our own roots, chemically and biologically, in the stars," said Dr. Geoff Marcy, an astronomer and longtime planet hunter at the University of California at Berkeley.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/31/science/31CND-NEPTUNE.html