Planet in Newly Found System May Have Water, Astronomers Say
Bloomberg
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A solar system astronomers recently discovered near ours has at least one planet that may contain water, a requirement for supporting life, according to a report to appear in the journal Nature.
The three planets orbiting the star HD 69830, which is about 41 light-years away and visible with the naked eye, have masses 5 to 20 times larger than Earth and are about the size of Neptune, according to the report in tomorrow's edition of the journal.
The two planets closest to the star probably are rocky, while the outer planet is likely to have a gaseous atmosphere around a rocky core. The outer planet is the right distance from the star to have liquid water, the astronomers said.
``The architecture of this particular planetary system bears some intriguing similarities to that of our own solar system,'' including multiple planets in nearly circular orbits, Harvard University astronomer David Charbonneau wrote in an accompanying editorial.
May 17, 2006
Bloomberg
_______
A solar system astronomers recently discovered near ours has at least one planet that may contain water, a requirement for supporting life, according to a report to appear in the journal Nature.
The three planets orbiting the star HD 69830, which is about 41 light-years away and visible with the naked eye, have masses 5 to 20 times larger than Earth and are about the size of Neptune, according to the report in tomorrow's edition of the journal.
The two planets closest to the star probably are rocky, while the outer planet is likely to have a gaseous atmosphere around a rocky core. The outer planet is the right distance from the star to have liquid water, the astronomers said.
``The architecture of this particular planetary system bears some intriguing similarities to that of our own solar system,'' including multiple planets in nearly circular orbits, Harvard University astronomer David Charbonneau wrote in an accompanying editorial.
May 17, 2006
