Post by auntym on Apr 11, 2012 12:08:41 GMT -6
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/120410-star-system-more-planets-sun-hd10180-space-science/?source=link_tw20120411news-nineplanet
Record Nine-Planet Star System Discovered?[/color]
Alien star likely has more planets than the sun, astronomers say.
[/size]
Andrew Fazekas
for National Geographic News
Published April 10, 2012
A star about 127 light-years from Earth may have even more planets than the sun, which would make the planetary system the most populated yet found.
According to a new study, HD 10180—a sunlike star in the southern constellation Hydrus—may have as many as nine orbiting planets, besting the eight official planets in our solar system.
The star first made headlines in 2010 with the announcement of five confirmed planets and two more planetary candidates.
Now, reanalysis of nearly a decade's worth of data has not only confirmed the existence of the two possible planets but also uncovered the telltale signals of two additional planets possibly circling the star, bringing the total to nine.
"There certainly is, according to my results, strong evidence that this is the most populous planetary system detected—possibly even richer than the solar system," said study leader Mikko Tuomi, an astronomer at the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K.
"But the two new planetary signals I report exceed the detection threshold only just."
Early indications are that both newly detected worlds are super-Earths—planets slightly larger than Earth with rocky surfaces—but more measurements will be needed to confirm their existance.
CONTINUE READING: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/120410-star-system-more-planets-sun-hd10180-space-science/?source=link_tw20120411news-nineplanet
Record Nine-Planet Star System Discovered?[/color]
Alien star likely has more planets than the sun, astronomers say.
[/size]
Andrew Fazekas
for National Geographic News
Published April 10, 2012
A star about 127 light-years from Earth may have even more planets than the sun, which would make the planetary system the most populated yet found.
According to a new study, HD 10180—a sunlike star in the southern constellation Hydrus—may have as many as nine orbiting planets, besting the eight official planets in our solar system.
The star first made headlines in 2010 with the announcement of five confirmed planets and two more planetary candidates.
Now, reanalysis of nearly a decade's worth of data has not only confirmed the existence of the two possible planets but also uncovered the telltale signals of two additional planets possibly circling the star, bringing the total to nine.
"There certainly is, according to my results, strong evidence that this is the most populous planetary system detected—possibly even richer than the solar system," said study leader Mikko Tuomi, an astronomer at the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K.
"But the two new planetary signals I report exceed the detection threshold only just."
Early indications are that both newly detected worlds are super-Earths—planets slightly larger than Earth with rocky surfaces—but more measurements will be needed to confirm their existance.
CONTINUE READING: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/120410-star-system-more-planets-sun-hd10180-space-science/?source=link_tw20120411news-nineplanet