Israeli scientist helps discover planet 'very similar to Earth'
The planet, some 500 light years from our solar system, is so distant that it cannot be seen.
By Ofri IlaniA team of scientists, including an Israeli researcher, announced the discovery Wednesday of a hitherto unknown planet they described as extremely similar to Earth, some 500 light years from our solar system.
The revelation bolsters the theory that the universe holds billions of planets revolving around stars similar to the Earth's sun.
"Progress in research on planets outside our solar system has been tremendous," said Prof. Zvi Mazeh of Tel Aviv University, who participated in the study. "It's amazing to think that 25 years ago, when I just started becoming interested in the field, not a single planet was known outside of our solar system."
"Now we've been able to discover planetary systems very similar to those of the Earth," Mazeh said. "They are just waiting for us to come discover them." The new planet was found almost accidentally while the team was monitoring another distant planet, TYC 4799-1733-1.
The planet is so distant from Earth that it cannot actually be seen; scientists concluded that it exists based on a small black mark it leaves on its parent star every 20.4 hours.
The newly-discovered planet, named CoRoT-7b, is estimated to have a radius twice that of Earth, but a lower mass.
For months, researchers monitored small changes in the revolution of the parent star with the aid of a highly-advanced instrument operated by the European Southern Observatory, a sprawling observatory located in Chile.
The researchers also discovered another planet, CoRoT-7c, orbiting its parent star in cycles of 3 days, 17 hours, with a mass eight times that of the Earth.
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David - you just made my day :-) :-) David II
What kind of proof is it if they haven't seen it but think it's there because of black holes?
It is good to hear Israel is in the forefront of the advancing science of Astronomy. One question unanswered is the composition of this 'lighter than our earth' planet. Is it a gas planet or does it simply have larger oceans. It gives new meaning to the the traditional concept of 'yenervelt'
Yaakob, why do you think the planet's keeping a low profile and not showing up on our radars??
Send Hamas and Hezbollah there.
This planet is waiting for the first of the half million colonists in the West Bank to make aliyah.
Hmmm. I wonder if the creatures there are Jewish. Could be. God's been known to get around, you know. Or maybe that's Heaven, maybe all the Gods live there in peace and harmony. So maybe no matter what you believed here on earth, maybe there's a God there to back you up. It all makes sense now. Yes. Thank you, God, and thank you God and thank you God and you, too, God, and you God and you also God and thanks to all you Gods, yes, yes, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.