Vanguard1917
7th November 2007, 17:49
Fifth planet is 'exciting step' (http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/fifth+planet+is+exciting+step/1014397)
The discovery of a fifth planet circling a star beyond our solar system marks "an exciting next step in the search for worlds like our own", astronomers have said.
The new planet has nearly the same mass and age as our sun, is "easily visible" with binoculars, and is located in a so-called "habitable zone" - a band around the star where the temperature would permit liquid water to pool on solid surfaces, Nasa said.
The space agency said the star, 55 Cancri, now holds the record for the number of confirmed extra-solar planets orbiting around it in a system.
Michael Briley, an astronomer at the National Science Foundation in Virginia, said: "This work marks an exciting next step in the search for worlds like our own.
"To go from the first detections of planets around sun-like stars to finding a full-fledged solar system with a planet in a habitable zone in just 12 years is an amazing accomplishment and a testament to the years of hard work put in by these investigators."
Weighing 45 times the mass of the Earth, the new planet is 41 light-years away, may be similar to Saturn in its composition and appearance, and completes one orbit every 260 days, a Nasa spokesman said.
Alan Stern, associate administrator for the Science Mission directorate at Nasa headquarters in Washington, said: "It is amazing to see our ability to detect extra-solar planets growing. We are finding solar systems with a richness of planets and a variety of planetary types comparable to our own."
Located 41 light-years away in the constellation Cancer, with nearly the same mass and age as our sun, the new planet is "easily visible" with binoculars, Nasa said.
Researchers discovered the planet using the Doppler technique, in which a planet's gravitational tug is detected by the wobble it produces in the parent star.
The distance from its star is about 72.5 million miles, slightly closer than Earth to our sun, but it orbits a star that is slightly fainter.
The discovery of a fifth planet circling a star beyond our solar system marks "an exciting next step in the search for worlds like our own", astronomers have said.
The new planet has nearly the same mass and age as our sun, is "easily visible" with binoculars, and is located in a so-called "habitable zone" - a band around the star where the temperature would permit liquid water to pool on solid surfaces, Nasa said.
The space agency said the star, 55 Cancri, now holds the record for the number of confirmed extra-solar planets orbiting around it in a system.
Michael Briley, an astronomer at the National Science Foundation in Virginia, said: "This work marks an exciting next step in the search for worlds like our own.
"To go from the first detections of planets around sun-like stars to finding a full-fledged solar system with a planet in a habitable zone in just 12 years is an amazing accomplishment and a testament to the years of hard work put in by these investigators."
Weighing 45 times the mass of the Earth, the new planet is 41 light-years away, may be similar to Saturn in its composition and appearance, and completes one orbit every 260 days, a Nasa spokesman said.
Alan Stern, associate administrator for the Science Mission directorate at Nasa headquarters in Washington, said: "It is amazing to see our ability to detect extra-solar planets growing. We are finding solar systems with a richness of planets and a variety of planetary types comparable to our own."
Located 41 light-years away in the constellation Cancer, with nearly the same mass and age as our sun, the new planet is "easily visible" with binoculars, Nasa said.
Researchers discovered the planet using the Doppler technique, in which a planet's gravitational tug is detected by the wobble it produces in the parent star.
The distance from its star is about 72.5 million miles, slightly closer than Earth to our sun, but it orbits a star that is slightly fainter.