This One Is Different

Alright, I'm on a geek riff again. But this news about a Jupiter-like planet around a sun-like star is really cool stuff. There have been dozens of extrasolar planets found, but they are considered to be in systems unlikely to have an earth-like planet. That's because the planets were huge gas planets very quickly circling stars much larger than our sun at relatively small distances from those stars. This recent discovery is different because this new planet travels at a distance more like Jupiter, leaving space in the system for smaller, rocky planets to exist closer to that star, just like earth. What does it all mean? Phil Plait discusses at length in his blog, linked below.

Bad Astronomy Blog » Jupiter’s twin found… 60 light years away!

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