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Keyword: kappaandromedae

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  • 'Super-Jupiter' Discovery Dwarfs Solar System's Largest Planet

    11/19/2012 5:27:45 PM PST · by BenLurkin · 24 replies
    SPACE.com ^ | 19 November 2012 Time: 12:01 AM ET | SPACE.com Staff
    In a rare direct photo of a world beyond Earth, astronomers have spotted a planet 13 times more massive than Jupiter, the largest planet in our own solar system. The planet orbits a star called Kappa Andromedae that is 2.5 times the mass of the sun and is located 170 light-years away from Earth. As a gas giant larger than Jupiter, it's classified as a "super-Jupiter." Astronomers say the object's immense size places it right on the edge of the classifications for giant planets and a type of failed star known as a brown dwarf. Its official name is Kappa...