Exoplanet Tracker Discovers Young Star with Planetary Companion
11 January 2006, Gainesville
An artist’s rendition shows a planet orbiting a very young, active star pocked with dark star spots and speckled with flares and other surface activity.
A team led by a University of Florida astronomer announced on Wednesday the discovery of the planet orbiting a star just 600 million years old, one of the youngest stars ever found with a planetary companion. In a development expected to dramatically speed the hunt for planets in coming years, the astronomers used a new, more effective planet-finding instrument attached to a telescope at the Tucson-based Kitt Peak National Observatory to find the planet, located about 100 light years away in the constellation Virgo.
More information
Image courtesy of P. Marenfeld and NOAO/AURA/NSF
Links
- University of Florida Press Release [archived]
Contacts
Douglas Isbell
Office of Public Affairs and Educational OutreachNational Optical Astronomy Observatory
Tel: 520/318-8230
Email: disbell@noao.edu
About the Release
Release No.: | noao0605 |
Facility: | KPNO 2.1-meter Telescope |
Science data: | 2006ApJ...648..683G |