Does this incredible discovery mean we are no longer unique? Pictures are fascinating. Is their life out there?
NASA scientists said they discovered
a fifth planet orbiting a star outside our own solar system and
say the discovery suggests there are many solar systems that
are, just like our own, packed with planets. The new planet is much bigger than Earth, but is a similar
distance away from its sun, a star known as 55 Cancri, the
astronomers said on Tuesday. The giant planets that orbit 55 Cancri, as depicted in this artist's concept, are inhospitable to life. But astronomers say it's possible water could exist on a moon of the newly discovered planet. Life could conceivably live on the surface of a moon that
might be orbiting the new planet, but such a moon would be far
too small to detect using current methods, the astronomers
said. "The star is very much like our own sun. It has about the
same mass and is about the same age as our sun," Fischer told
reporters. |
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