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Astronomers Michel Mayor (R) and
Stephane Udry (L) of Switzerland's Geneva Observatory attend an astronomy
conference in Nantes, western France, Monday June 16, 2008. European
astronomers had located dozens of giant planets in three distant solar
systems. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) |
BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- European scientists on Monday said they had discovered a batch offive "super-Earths," each of them between four and 30 times bigger than our planet, in a trio of distant solar systems.
Their findings, presented at a conference in France, suggests that at least one third of stars similar to our own Sun host these difficult-to-detect celestial bodies, multiplying previous estimates by five.
It also brings astronomers closer to finding planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets, that could potentially duplicate the conditions that gave rise to life on Earth.
"In a year or two, it is likely that we will find habitable planets circling small stars" such as the sun, said Setphane Udry, a researcher at Switzerland's Geneva Observatory and a member of the team that made the discovery.
The trio of planets orbit a star slightly less massive than our sun, 42 light-years away towards the southern Doradus and Pictor constellations. A light-year is the distance light can travel in one year.
The planets are bigger than Earth -- one is 4.2 times the mass, one is 6.7 times and the third is 9.4 times.
They orbit their star at extremely rapid speeds -- one whizzing around in just four days, compared with Earth's 365 days, one taking 10 days and the slowest taking 20 days.
Udry and colleagues used the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher or HARPS, a telescope at La Silla observatory in Chile, to find the planets.
HARPS, sometimes called the "planet hunter", has uncovered 45 super-Earths since it began operation in 2004.
(Agencies)
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NASA image from the Spitzer Space
Telescope shows a fledgling solar system. European astronomers say they
have located dozens of giant planets in three distant solar
systems.(Xinhua/AFP File Photo) |
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This artist's impression by the European
Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO)
website shows a trio of super-Earths discovered by an European team.
European scientists on Monday said they had located five "super-Earths,"
each of them between four and 30 times bigger than our planet, in a trio
of distant solar systems.(Xinhua/AFP File Photo) |
