Most of the planets detected outside our solar system so far have been orbiting brown dwarfs, where the dim light from their companion stars makes them easier to spot. Of course, the main reason we're looking for exoplanets is to find one like our own, since we fear and hate things that are different from us (like Michael Jackson). But a team of astronomers from the University of Toronto have captured an image of what appears to be the first known exoplanet orbiting a star like our own. It's still probably not especially Earth-like, since it's about eight times the size of Jupiter, but we're getting closer. At the very least we can share the thought that Superman would be incredibly powerful on both our planets. More details here.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Planet Curious (Yellow Star)
