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- Astronomers plan Monday to announce the discovery of
10 new planets orbiting nearby stars, bringing the total to more than 50
discovered since 1995.
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- Further, researchers say the planets, which include both
the smallest and the closest to our solar system yet detected, point to
a starry neighborhood near Earth crowded with multiple planetary systems
like our own.
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- "The observations suggest stars often form complete
hosts of planetary systems, says astronomer Debra Fischer of the University
of California, Berkeley, a member of one of four teams announcing planet
detections at the International Astronomical Union meeting in the United
Kingdom.
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- Mostly, the newly detected planets resemble many of those
discovered already by astronomers - large gas giant planets close to Jupiter
in size, but following elongated, or eccentric, orbits around stars within
200 light years of Earth. (One light year equal 5.878 trillion miles.)
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- Such massive objects reveal themselves by the "wobble
their gravitational pull, akin to the Moon's tidal effects on Earth's oceans,
causes their host star.
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- However, both a Swiss team and Fischer's group report
finding second planets in stars already known to harbor a gas giant, at
stars HD 83443 and HD 38529 (in the Orion constellation) respectively.
A multiple planet system was reported at the star Upsilon Andromedae in
last year, but until now astronomers had been hesitant to describe solar
systems as commonplace.
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- "We have several other (planet) candidates that
show a drift indicating there is something else in their system, says astronomer
Stephane. Udry. of the Geneva Observatory, a member of the Swiss team.
Fischer plans today to discuss an analysis suggesting that of 12 planet-harboring
stars her team has observed for more than two years, five show signs of
further companions.
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- "Planets are bursting out all over, says astronomer
Stephen Maran. of the American Astronomical Society. He expects more finds
in coming years, as astronomers look at more nearby stars for longer periods
of time.
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- One of the newly discovered planets, the second one discovered
orbiting the star HD 83443, represents the smallest planet yet detected.
It's still large " over 45 times bigger than Earth " but less
than half the size of Saturn.
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- A team led by William Cochrane. of the University of
Texas in Austin. will announce the discovery of the closest planet yet
detected, circling the star Epsilon Eridani, only 10.5 light years from
Earth. The star was one of the first that the founder of the Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project started looking at three decades
ago.
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- (Fans of TV's Star Trek know the Epsilon Eridani as a
possible home of the planet Vulcan, where Mr. Spock originated.)
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- "Finding a planet a mere 10 light-years away is
like finding an alligator in my back yard, says Seth Shostack of the SETI
Institute in Mountain View, Calif. "It tells me that alligators must
be a dime a dozen. They must be everywhere, he says.
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