Astronomers discover scaled-down Jupiter and Saturn in a faraway solar system like our own

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This artists rendering of a distant solar system shows the location of two newly discovered planets -- one resembling Jupiter (middle right) and one resembling Saturn (bottom). The question mark indicates where an inner system of planets would be loc ...
This artist's rendering of a distant solar system shows the location of two newly discovered planets -- one resembling Jupiter (middle right) and one resembling Saturn (bottom). The question mark indicates where an inner system of planets would be located -- if the solar system contained terrestrial planets similar to Earth. Ohio State University astronomers led an international collaboration that published the discovery in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Science. Image courtesy of Cheongho Han and colleagues at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

An international team of astronomers has discovered two planets that resemble smaller versions of Jupiter and Saturn in a solar system nearly 5,000 light years away. The find suggests that our galaxy hosts many planetary systems like our own, said Scott Gaudi, assistant professor of astronomy at Ohio State University.


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All News summaries for February 14, 2008