The Barnard's Star Blunder

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The Barnard's Star Blunder
These days, it is generally accepted within the scientific community that there are planets orbiting nearby stars. In the past decade, more than 130 such extrasolar planets have been discovered.
But the first such "discovery," of a planet allegedly orbiting Barnard's star, turned out to be a false alarm. In a talk at a recent symposium on extrasolar planets, astronomer Alan Boss, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, told the tale of this scientific snafu.


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All News summaries for July 08, 2005

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