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Exoplanets

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8 Things You Didn't Know About Extrasolar Planets

While most of us have our eyes on Mars at the moment, there's a special class of astronomers who have their telescopes trained on planets a little bit farther away. Actually, a lot farther away - completely outside our solar system, in fact. We've found almost 300 extrasolar planets (or exoplanets) so far, and the search continues. Here are some surprising facts about planets that are way, way out there.
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8:00 AM on Tue May 27 2008
By Ed Grabianowski
5,163 views, 33 comments

Latest by Ed Grabianowski: @LeviAnnalis: Indeed, it is actually GQ Lup (the star GQ Lup b orbits around) that has a mass of .7 suns. A simple error. No need to be such a jerk about it. more »

exoplanets

Almost Earth 2: Small Rocky Planet is Closest Yet

Okay, so it's not G889 that humans colonized in the TV series, but it's the closest astronomers have found yet. Weighing in at around 5 Earth masses and 1.5 times Earthly diameter, GJ 436c (which orbits the star GJ 436) is the smallest rocky exoplanet ever discovered. It still has many of the wonky traits of other exos like a 3-week long day and a 5.2 day-long year, but preliminary calculations suggest the toasty planet could be nice and balmy at the poles — perfect for an extended beach vacation in the Leo constellation. More »

9:30 AM on Thu Apr 10 2008
By Michael Reilly
1,547 views, 26 comments

Latest by n/a: It's not the smallest. Around a living star, maybe. But the smallests are around some pulsar. more »