[Darth Sidious]

Just out of curiosity: why is it that, to the best of my recollection, they never seem to post photographs of all these new planets? I can't remember seeing any images of these newfound solar systems.

[tictoc]

I nominate Hillary as our ambassador to the Cancrians.

[Ahban]

THis is overblown. It is highly unlikey that an E-arth-like planet resides there. Neglecting the other narrow parameters needed to make Earth work, the large planet close to the star almost certainly did not form there. Instead, it formed further out and spiraled in, this would have disrupted the orbit of any Earth-like plnaet along the way. It is unlikey that another Earth drifted into the right spot AFTER this behemoth spiralled in.

[RightWhale]

This was the anticipated big announcement. In about 2010 the new extra huge planet finder telescope should be in operation and then we will begin finding earth sized planets in large quantities. But earth sized and earthlike are two different things. This system today may have an earth sized planet or it may not, they don't know. But with a Jupiter sized planet in the inner solar system, the earth sized planet would not be earthlike. Not even close.

[PatrickHenry]

More planets for us to invade and rule. Manifest Destiny ping.

[blam]

Astronomers discover 13 new planets

Astronomers have announced the discovery of 13 new planets among the stars, including one inhabiting a solar system similar to our own.

The newcomers bring the tally of planets found orbiting stars outside the solar system to more than 90.

They include one Jupiter-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star at the same distance as the Jovian giant is from the Sun in our system.

The team, led by US planet-finding pioneers Geoffrey Marcy and Paul Butler, also announced the discovery of the smallest extrasolar planet ever detected - a world with a mass 15% that of Jupiter and 40 times larger than the Earth.

The planetary system similar to the Sun's belongs to the star 55 Cancri, 41 light years away in the constellation of Cancer.

Dr Marcy, professor of astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley, said: "All other extrasolar planets discovered up to now orbit closer to the parent star, and most of them have had elongated, eccentric orbits.

"This new planet orbits as far from its star as our own Jupiter orbits the Sun."

The star was already known to have another planet, discovered by Marcy and Butler in 1996. That planet is a gas giant slightly smaller than Jupiter that whips around 55 Cancri in just 14.6 days at a distance one 10th that of the Earth to the Sun.

The newfound planet orbits at about 5.5 times the Earth-Sun distance (5.5 astronomical units, or AU), which is comparable to the 512 million gap between Jupiter and the Sun.

It is between 3.5 and five times the mass of Jupiter, and its slightly elongated orbit takes it around the star in about 13 years - quite close to Jupiter's orbital period of 11.86 years.

Story filed: 18:17 Thursday 13th June 2002

[Brett66]

Fascinating, it appears we have enough data to begin forming a statistical pattern for Sol-like systems and that number is 1 in 42. Or thereabouts. ;)