New planetary system discovered with 'mini Jupiter'
Friday, 15 Feb 2008 14:12
Artist's impression of the newly discovered solar system
Science In Focus
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A new planetary system with two planets that resemble smaller versions of Jupiter and Saturn has been discovered by astronomers.
The findings, published in the journal Science, suggest that our galaxy has many planetary systems like our own.
Scientists spotted the two planets when the star they orbit crossed in front of a more distant star as seen from Earth
This discovery involved 11 different ground-based telescopes in countries around the world, including New Zealand, Tasmania, Israel, Chile, the Canary Islands, and the United States.
The international team of researchers behind the discovery say the planets appear to be gaseous like Jupiter and Saturn and are about 80 per cent as big.
They orbit a star about half the size of the sun.
Although the star is dim and cold compared to the sun the researchers say the new solar system appears to be similar to the Earth's.
The larger planet is about as large compared to its star as Jupiter is to our sun and the smaller planet shares a similar mass ratio with Saturn.
The smaller planet is also roughly twice as far from its star as the larger one, just as Saturn is about twice as far away from the sun as Jupiter.
"Theorists have wondered whether gas giants in other solar systems would form in the same way as ours did," said Scott Gaudi, assistant professor of astronomy at Ohio State University.
"This system seems to answer in the affirmative."