Astronotes Armagh Planetarium's Stellar Blog! ... Solar System . ... Planets . ... This bizarrely shrunken planetary system was found by NASAтАЩs Kepler mission, hence the parent star has been named Kepler-11. ... Planetary scientist and Kepler science team member Jack Lissauer said ?These six planets are mixtures of rock and gases, possibly including water.тАЭ €аNone of these strange new worlds are likely to be home to any form of life; their surface conditions are simply too extreme. ...

Discover the cosmos! ... 2002 June 14 . 55 Cancri: Familiar Planet Discovered . ... The discovery of a Jupiter -like planet in a Jupiter-like orbit around nearby Sun -like star 55 Cancri , announced yesterday, gives a new indication that planetary systems similar to our Solar System likely exist elsewhere. The planet, discovered by G. Marcy ( UC Berkeley ) and collaborators, is one of two new planets found around 55 Cancri -- in 1997 a Jupiter-massed planet was found orbiting very close in. ...

... HD70642: A Star with Similar Planets . ... 9.07.2003 . ... Credit: David A. Hardy, PPARC Explanation: Astronomers have discovered a planetary system more similar to our own Solar System than any known previously . The bright star HD70642 , visible with binoculars toward the constellation of Puppis , was already known to be a star like our Sun. Now a planet with twice Jupiter's mass has been discovered in a nearly circular orbit at approximately half the orbital distance of Jupiter. ...

... This artist's impression shows the remarkable planetary system around the Sun-like star HD 10180 five planets and evidence for two more. ... Richest Planetary System Discovered . ... This remarkable discovery also highlights the fact that we are now entering a new era in exoplanet research: the study of complex planetary systems and not just of individual planets. ... The newly discovered system of planets around HD 10180 is unique in several respects. ...

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... Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh BT61 9DG, +44 (0)28 3752 2928 . This image shows the relative size of the three newly discovered . planets around Kepler 37. Image Courtesy of NASA). ... Dr Tom Barclay who studied at Armagh Observatory for three years as a post-graduate student funded by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, has led a team of astronomers who have detected the smallest extra-solar planet, or exoplanet, yet found around a star like our Sun. ...