Massive Planet Found by Astronomers Using Novel Network of Tiny Telescopes

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In a transit measurement astronomers cannot see the image of the planet directly. Instead they measure the slight dimming of the light of the distant star as the planet passes across the face of it. Credit: J. Hall Lowell Observatory
In a transit measurement, astronomers cannot see the image of the planet directly. Instead, they measure the slight dimming of the light of the distant star as the planet passes across the face of it. Credit: J. Hall, Lowell Observatory

Our home solar system may be down by a planet with the recent demotion of Pluto, but the number of giant planets discovered in orbit around other stars continues to grow steadily. Now, an international team of astronomers has detected a planet larger than Jupiter that orbits a star 500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Draco.


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Partial Solar Eclipse visible from the UK on the morning of 1st August

2 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
On 1st August 2008 there will be a total eclipse of the Sun, visible from Canada, northern Greenland, Svalbard, the Barents Sea, Russia, Mongolia and China. From the whole of the British Isles observers will see a partial ...

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6 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
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7 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
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Trench on Mars Ready for Next Sampling by NASA Lander

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has groomed the bottom of a shallow trench to prepare for collecting a sample to be analyzed from a hard subsurface layer where the soil may contain frozen water. ...

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Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Within the Arctic circle there are 90 billion barrels of oil and vast quantities of natural gas waiting to be tapped, most of it offshore, the government-run US Geological Survey said.
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