Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня 70 Девы B: новая водяная планета? http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1161842/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Royal
Observatory Edinburgh, Anglo-Australian Observatory, and AURA
Explanation:
The star
70 Virginis has a planet. This recent
discovery is the second known case of a planet orbiting a normal
star other than our
Sun itself. The first case involved
51 Pegasi and was announced last year. The star
70 Vir, shown in the center of the above false-color picture, is very
much like the Sun. The
planet is not visible above - the unusual structure surrounding the star
is caused by the telescope. The planet, designated 70 Vir b for short, was
discovered by very slight periodic shifts in its colors. Defining
characteristics of this planet include that it is at least eight times the
mass of Jupiter, it's orbit is much smaller than
Jupiter's, and it's temperature allows
water
to exist in liquid form - like on the Earth. Life
on Earth is based on
liquid water -
could life exist
here too?
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.