Small exoplanet found around nearby star
Posted: Wed, Apr 22, 2009, 8:55 AM ET (1255 GMT)
Astronomers announced Tuesday the discovery of the smallest extrasolar planet yet found, a world less than twice the mass of the Earth just 21 light-years away. The planet, Gliese 581 e, if the fourth planet found around the star Gliese 581, an M-class star 21 light-years away. The planet was found by European astronomers using the radial velocity technique by a European team using an advanced spectrograph at the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-meter telescope in Chile. The planet closely orbits the star, with a period of only 3.15 days, and astronomers said the world is likely a rocky body. They added that another planet in the same system, Gliese 581 d, a world seven times as massive as the Earth in a 67-day orbit, likely was an icy body that migrated in from the other regions of the star system and may now have deep oceans of water.
Astronomers announced Tuesday the discovery of the smallest extrasolar planet yet found, a world less than twice the mass of the Earth just 21 light-years away. The planet, Gliese 581 e, if the fourth planet found around the star Gliese 581, an M-class star 21 light-years away. The planet was found by European astronomers using the radial velocity technique by a European team using an advanced spectrograph at the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-meter telescope in Chile. The planet closely orbits the star, with a period of only 3.15 days, and astronomers said the world is likely a rocky body. They added that another planet in the same system, Gliese 581 d, a world seven times as massive as the Earth in a 67-day orbit, likely was an icy body that migrated in from the other regions of the star system and may now have deep oceans of water.
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