It's 10 years this month since the first extrasolar planet (around the star 51 Pegasi) was announced. Since then, more than 160 other worlds have been found beyond our Solar System. It's one of my favourite fields of interest.
A new planet was announced this week around the star HD 189733. Not familiar with it? Fair enough
It's only magnitude 7.7, but it's 0.3 degrees east of M27, the Dumbbell Nebula.
The planet is also one that transits its parent star as seen from Earth. It's the 9th such known transiting planet.
But what makes this one special is the size of the magnitude drop - 0.03 magnitudes. That's the largest change in magnitude known for any of the transiting extrasolar planets. Astronomers are very excited about this as it will make their study of the system a whole lot easier.
Amateurs have already imaged much smaller changes in magnitude from other transiting planets.
I've included the below link so you can see the image of the star near the Dumbbell Nebula.
http://www.austskyandtel.com.au/news..._Exoplanet.htm
