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Solar system similar to ours discovered: US astronomers
Yahoo! News via Drudge ^
| June 13, 2002
| Yahoo! News staff
Posted on 06/13/2002 4:17:37 PM PDT by 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.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 55cancri; catastrophism; crevo; earth; geoffmarcy; goldilocks; goldilocksplanet; goldilockszone; solarsystem; xplanets
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WOW moment for astonomy fans.
1
posted on
06/13/2002 4:17:37 PM PDT
by
Exit 109
To: Exit 109
Get those SETI recievers pointing that way!!
2
posted on
06/13/2002 4:24:35 PM PDT
by
widgysoft
To: Exit 109
Is that where the Palestinian Bizarros have their own state?
3
posted on
06/13/2002 4:25:04 PM PDT
by
Argus
To: Exit 109
Yeah, but do they have digital wristwatches? Do they know where their towels are? Are they all a bunch of froods?
To: Teacher317
I'm pretty sure Slartibartfast was responsible for this...does it have fiords?
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6
posted on
06/13/2002 4:35:10 PM PDT
by
WIMom
To: Exit 109
"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.
To: widgysoft
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.
To: Exit 109
How far is that at warp 9.4?
To: Exit 109
How far is that at warp 9.4?
To: Focault's Pendulum
Dang, only six minutes for someone to get the references and reply... sci-fi nerds rule!
To: Exit 109
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 ... ;^)
12
posted on
06/13/2002 5:13:43 PM PDT
by
mikrofon
To: Radio_Astronomer; Physicist; Rightwhale
ping
13
posted on
06/13/2002 5:48:55 PM PDT
by
weikel
To: weikel
It's close to 100 extrasolar planets now. In 10 years it will be thousands on the way to millions. None like earth.
To: RightWhale
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.
15
posted on
06/13/2002 5:55:42 PM PDT
by
weikel
To: RightWhale
Do you share my view that a large % of stars have planets in orbit?
16
posted on
06/13/2002 5:56:14 PM PDT
by
weikel
To: weikel
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.
To: Exit 109
Shouldn't this be sourced as, "Agence France-Presse via Yahoo via Drudge"?
To: weikel
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.
To: RightWhale
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).
20
posted on
06/13/2002 6:03:33 PM PDT
by
weikel
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