Planet Quest: News Archive

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Astronomers detect farthest known planet December 3, 2002 Astronomers have announced the discovery of the most distant extrasolar planet ever found -- a gas giant located 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The planet is the first to be detected using the transit method, which infers the planet's existence based on a periodic dip in the star's brightness as the planet passes its face.

Hubble measures extrasolar planet's true mass (December 3, 2002) An international team of astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to help make a precise measurement of the mass of a planet outside our solar system. The Hubble results show that the planet is 1.89 to 2.4 times as massive as Jupiter, our solar system's largest orbiting body.

NASA selects scientists, technologists for Terrestrial Planet Finder (November 21, 2002) NASA has named a group of 33 key scientists and technologists to help design missions that could accomplish the Terrestrial Planet Finder goals of finding and characterizing Earth-like planets and looking for signs of life.

Building planets in cyberspace (November 4, 2002) Over the next few years, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory plan to cook up a series of planets using ingredients like carbon dioxide, water vapor and methane. But they won't be using real materials -- it will all be done in cyberspace.

Innovative technique reveals new planet (October 22, 2002) By studying patterns in a ring of dust surrounding the star Epsilon Eridani, astronomers have detected one of the lowest mass planets yet discovered. Located 10 light years away, the planet has about one tenth the mass of Jupiter and completes an orbit once every 280 years.

Astronomers find first planet orbiting close-in binary star (October 9, 2002) Astronomers with the McDonald Observatory Planet Search project have discovered the first planet orbiting a star in a close-in binary star system. The discovery has implications for the number of possible planets in our galaxy, because unlike the Sun, most stars are in binary systems.

Astronomers discover another Jupiter-size planet with a circular orbit (September 17, 2002) An international planet search team has announced the discovery of the 102nd planet outside our solar system -- a Jupiter-like giant circling a star about 100 light-years away.

Assembly arrives for airborne observatory (September 4, 2002) NASA's airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) received a key component last week when its telescope assembly arrived in Waco, Texas, completing a 7,000-mile journey from Germany.

SIRTF to lift veil on planet formation (August 19, 2002) Early next year, the field of new planet observations will be extended into space with the launch of the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF).

Over 100 planets found, and counting (July 9, 2002) The search for new worlds reached a milestone recently when the total number of planets detected around stars outside our solar system topped 100.

Newfound planetary system has 'hometown' look (June 13, 2002) After 15 years of observation and a lot of patience, the world's premier planet-hunting team has finally found a planetary system that reminds them of our own home solar system.

Solo brown dwarf may help study of extrasolar planets (May 22, 2002) Astronomers have observed in mid-infrared wavelengths the closest brown dwarf, or "failed star," to Earth.

Do black holes do-si-do? May 13, 2002 Scientists believe that binary black holes, the remnants of past galactic mergers, may dance at the heart of elliptical galaxies.

A conversation with a planet hunter April 1, 2002 The detection of small, Earth-like worlds outside our solar system may be closer than you think, according to Caltech's David Charbonneau.

Planet discovered orbiting HD 136118 February 7, 2002 A planetary companion has been detected circling the star HD 136118, bringing to 76 the total number of planets thus far discovered orbiting stars other than our Sun.

Planet found orbiting giant star January 8, 2002 The first discovery of a planet orbiting a giant star is providing insight into the fate of planets during the late life cycles stars, according to a team of astronomers.

Shock zone found where planets are born January 8, 2002 In research that may help reveal how planets form, astronomers have gathered evidence that a shock is created when material falls in toward a dust disk around a growing star.

Hubble measures atmosphere on world around another star February 2002 Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have made the first direct detection and chemical analysis of the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system.

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