Solar system similar to ours discovered: US astronomers

Yahoo! News via Drudge ^ | June 13, 2002 | Yahoo! News staff

[Exit 109]

Friday June 14, 3:19 AM

Solar system similar to ours discovered: US astronomers

US astronomers announced the discovery of a solar system similar to our own, at a press conference at NASA's headquarters here.

Astronomers said they had identified an extra-solar planet orbiting this star at about the same distance Jupiter orbits the sun. They discovered a total of 15 extra-solar planets.

University of California at Berkley astronomy professor Geoffrey Marcy discovered the star, named 55 Cancri, 15 years ago, jointly with his colleague at Washington's Carnegie Institution Paul Butler.

In 1996, Marcy and Butler announced the discovery of a first planet orbiting 55 Cancri "in 14.6 days at a distance only one-tenth that from Earth to the sun."

55 Cancri is located 41 million light-years from the Earth, in the constellation of Cancer. The star, believed to be around five billion years old, is visible to the naked eye, astronomers said.

[Exit 109]

WOW moment for astonomy fans.

[widgysoft]

Get those SETI recievers pointing that way!!

[Argus]

Is that where the Palestinian Bizarros have their own state?

[Teacher317]

Yeah, but do they have digital wristwatches? Do they know where their towels are? Are they all a bunch of froods?

[Focault's Pendulum]

I'm pretty sure Slartibartfast was responsible for this...does it have fiords?

[WIMom]

Please excuse this short interruption. As you know, the fundraiser is in full swing. We need your help. Please stop by the fundraising thread and give it a bump. And if you have a few bucks, we'd really appreciate a contribution to keep this site running. IMO, it's the best site on the internet for news and analysis.
Donate Here By Secure Server
Or mail checks to
FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794
or you can use PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com

Thank you for your support!

[colorado tanker]

"a first planet orbiting 55 Cancri "in 14.6 days at a distance only one-tenth that from Earth to the sun" That must be Vulcan.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Get those SETI recievers pointing that way!!

And they would be easily pointed, as 55 Cancri is currently visible in binoculars low in the west after sundown.

[det dweller too]

How far is that at warp 9.4?

[det dweller too]

How far is that at warp 9.4?

[Teacher317]

Dang, only six minutes for someone to get the references and reply... sci-fi nerds rule!

[mikrofon]

55 Cancri is located 41 million light-years from the Earth, in the constellation of Cancer. The star, believed to be around five billion years old, is visible to the naked eye, astronomers said.

More like 41 L.Y. in order for it to be visible -- 41 million is farther than most of the galaxies in our local "neighborhood".

Also, for the solar system to be truly similar to our own, the scientists will have to find evidence of a planet imminently in danger of extinction from greenhouse gases due to the activities of its inhabitants ... ;^)

[weikel]

ping

[RightWhale]

It's close to 100 extrasolar planets now. In 10 years it will be thousands on the way to millions. None like earth.

[weikel]

I think there are a few terran type planets out there( the big problem is that the stars are so damned far away). Also they probably have lots of diseases which we have no resistance to.

[weikel]

Do you share my view that a large % of stars have planets in orbit?

[RightWhale]

There are planets everywhere, most stars have planets and just as many more planets lurk between stars. That's what I think at this moment. There's a lot of earthsize planets of similar composition, but no earthlike planets. Planetary engineers have quite a job ahead getting the subdivisions ready.

[Types_with_Fist]

Shouldn't this be sourced as, "Agence France-Presse via Yahoo via Drudge"?

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

If liberalism existed on other planets further along than ours, we would find a wasteland and no remaining life. It's main downfall would be their ability to tax money even before the idea of making it exists, a liberal dream.

[weikel]

If most stars have planets and there are around 200 billion stars( I think thats what Ive heard) in this galaxy alone the odds are there are some worlds with oxygen/nitrogen atmospheres and plantlife( at least I don't think an earthtype world is that improbable).