PDA

View Full Version : Smallest Extrasolar Planet Revealed By Microlensing


Light Eye
01-25-2006, 10:29 AM
Dear Friends,

More info concerning Jan's posting.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn8633

Be Well, Be Love.

David

Smallest extrasolar planet revealed by microlensing

Astronomers have found an extrasolar planet that may be just 5.5
times as massive as the Earth ? that would make it the smallest
exoplanet ever detected around a normal star.

It orbits a common red dwarf star, 22,000 light years from the Sun,
and was found using a technique called gravitational microlensing.

The planet is too far from its host star - and therefore too cold -
to harbour life as we know it, but the new find offers hope that
there are smaller, warmer worlds out there waiting to be found.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]