Small Rocky Planet Found Orbiting Normal Star
Astronomers announced today the discovery of what is possibly the smallest planet known outside our solar system orbiting a normal star.
Its orbit is farther from its host star than Earth is from the Sun. Most known extrasolar planets reside inside the equivalent of Mercury’s orbit.
The planet is estimated to be about 5.5 times as massive as Earth and thought to be rocky. It orbits a red dwarf star about 28,000 light-years away. Red dwarfs are about one-fifth as massive as the Sun and up to 50 times fainter. But they are among the most common stars in the universe.
What's most interesting about this is tha it was discovered "using a technique called “gravitational microlensing,” whereby light from a distant star is bent and magnified by the gravitational field of a foreground star. The presence of a planet around the foreground star causes light from the distant star to become momentarily brighter."
Sadly, this new planet is too cold to live on, so we can't ship our supply of wingers there.
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Sadly, this new planet is too cold to live on, so we can't ship our supply of wingers there.
This is a barrier -- why?
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