... Planets . ... Earth Satellites . ... Looking in the direction of the constellation Cygnus the Swan and launched by NASA in 2009 is the Kepler Space Observatory.Many previous missions searching for exoplanets mainly detected large giant planets, like large hot Jupiters (it is easier to detect larger planets).However KeplerтАЩs main objective is to search for much smaller planets located in a habitable zone which is not too close nor too far from their star; planets which may be just like our Earth. ...

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. ...

... Credit: Greg Bacon ( STScI ), NASA Explanation: The last decade saw the profound discovery of many worlds beyond our solar system, but none analogs of our home planet Earth . Exploiting precise observational techniques, astronomers inferred the presence of well over two dozen extrasolar planets , most nearly as massive as gas giant Jupiter or more, in close orbits around sun-like stars. ... Publications with keywords: extrasolar planet - planet - Saturn - planetary system . ... Crescent Saturn . ...

... The study of extra solar planets will be one of the most important areas of research in astronomy in this century. ... The first planets outside the solar system were found in 1992 around the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12 by Alex Wolszczan at the Arecibo Observatory . ... Three space missions based on this principle (MOST, COROT and Kepler ) have already been launched or approved, and have the last one at least has the potential to find Earth-sized planets. ... SIM ( NASA ) is one of such missions...

... 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. ...

... 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. ...

... English astronomer and mathematician. ... American astronomer. ... Bond, William Cranch 1789-1859 . ... At the observatory, he studied Saturn and (with William Lassell ) discovered its moon Hyperion . ... Polish astronomer who advanced the heliocentric theory that the earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. ... Galileo Galilei 1564-1642 . ... Van Allen discovered the Earth's radiation belts, which now bear his name, with an instrument aboard the first successful American satellite, Explorer...

... English astronomer and mathematician. ... American astronomer. ... Bond, William Cranch 1789-1859 . ... At the observatory, he studied Saturn and (with William Lassell ) discovered its moon Hyperion . ... Polish astronomer who advanced the heliocentric theory that the earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. ... Galileo Galilei 1564-1642 . ... Van Allen discovered the Earth's radiation belts, which now bear his name, with an instrument aboard the first successful American satellite, Explorer...

... Bringing news from across the Universe to children all around the world . ... Astronomers have captured this amazing new space photograph showing the birth of a Solar System! Earth and the other seven planets of our Solar System are not alone in the Universe. Over 1800 planets have been discovered around distant stars so far, and this number is rising! Stars and planets form when a giant cloud of cosmic dust in space collapses in on itself. ...

... Bad Astronomy . ... Mad Science . ... Site Info . ... Public Talks . ... Keep Bad Astronomy close to your heart, and help make me filthy rich. ... Who is this guy who calls himself "The Bad Astronomer?" ... First, yes, I am a real live astronomer (when people ask me what astronomers do, I tell them "They astronom !" ... These are emitted by powerful objects like black holes, exploding stars, and super-dense neutrons stars. ... Finally, am I really a bad astronomer? ... 2008 Phil Plait. ...

In ancient times the solar system was thought to be the whole Universe, so the study of planetary motions was cosmology. ... The planets other than the Moon and Sun generally move West to East through the stars, but occasionally stop and move in the opposite direction ( retrograde motion). In order to explain the retrograde motion of the planets, the geocentric model of the Solar System shown above puts the planets on small circles called epicycles . ...

... 8, ``Celestial Mechanics'', 2002 Precession and free core nutation of neutron stars A. Gusev, I. Kitiashvili Kazan University, Russia In 1992 Wolszczan and Frail discovered a planetary system around the pulsar PSR 1257+12 [1]. ... Third case: the most likely possibility is the free precession of the pulsar with a rigid 81 neutron star. ... It is known that rotation of the terrestrial planets having rigid mantle and elliptical liquid core is characterized by Free Core Nutation (FCN). ...