multiple planet system discovered by gravitational microlensing
Two planets similar to Saturn and Jupiter discovered orbiting star 5000ly away. This is the first multiplanet system discovered outside our own solar system. More here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0214144532.htm
Actually, it's the first multiplanet system found by microlensing.
There are dozens of other stars besides our Sun known to have more than 1 planet orbiting them,. The leader is 55 Cancri, with 5 known planets (I wrote on this in AS&T Jan/Feb 2008, page 10).
If it makes stuff appear larger why do they call it microlensing..
Yes I read this earlier and again today from someone else postings elsewhere..this is far more exciting than earlier discoveries for the fact of the lensing aspect ...to me anyways.
But what a job it must be following a stars wobble and taking it from there to compute the planets....beyond my little brain...my hat off to these folk.
I wonder if you can get gravitationally lensed xrays for example...I mean if there was a visual source that had xrays as well..would xrays (or other even more exotic stuff) follow the same path or would over such a trip would they diverge in a different manner ..like light thru a prism for a ruff parrallel. They would have to you would think??? see my problem the old mind runs away out there...rarely comes back acually
alex
I think the current count is WAY over 200...probably closer to 300 now... It makes you think that if big planets like this are so common, how common must planets of a similar size to Earth be! Exciting stuff for sure!
Now if we could just see some of them...I am sure Iceman would love to image an exo-Jupiter!
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