Centered in this unremarkable, 1/4 degree wide patch of sky [
http://skyview.gsfc…] in the constellation Aquarius [
http://www.astro.wi…constellations/Aquar ius.html ] is the star Gliese 876. Gliese 876 [
http://ledas-www.st…dbhlp_WOOLLEY.html#L 3Sequence_Number ] is smaller than the Sun, only about 1/3 as massive, and too faint to be seen without a telescope. But it is known to be one of the nearest stars [
http://ledas-www.st…], only 15 light-years distant. Astronomers have just announced findings that imply Gliese 876 [
http://cannon.sfsu.…] has a planet at least 1.6 times as massive as Jupiter - making this now one of the closest suspected planetary [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] systems. Like many recent discoveries [
http://cannon.sfsu.…], this planet's detection [
http://whyfiles.new…] is not based on direct imaging [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] but on spectroscopic measurements of the periodic change in motion or "Doppler wobble" [
http://cannon.sfsu.…]produced in the parent star as the planet orbits. The Doppler wobble of Gliese 876 indicates [
http://cannon.sfsu.…] that its planet orbits once every 61 days at an average distance of about 1/5 the radius of the Earth's orbit.
Explanation
Centered in this unremarkable, 1/4 degree wide patch of sky [
http://skyview.gsfc…] in the constellation Aquarius [
http://www.astro.wi…constellations/Aquar ius.html ] is the star Gliese 876. Gliese 876 [
http://ledas-www.st…dbhlp_WOOLLEY.html#L 3Sequence_Number ] is smaller than the Sun, only about 1/3 as massive, and too faint to be seen without a telescope. But it is known to be one of the nearest stars [
http://ledas-www.st…], only 15 light-years distant. Astronomers have just announced findings that imply Gliese 876 [
http://cannon.sfsu.…] has a planet at least 1.6 times as massive as Jupiter - making this now one of the closest suspected planetary [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] systems. Like many recent discoveries [
http://cannon.sfsu.…], this planet's detection [
http://whyfiles.new…] is not based on direct imaging [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] but on spectroscopic measurements of the periodic change in motion or "Doppler wobble" [
http://cannon.sfsu.…]produced in the parent star as the planet orbits. The Doppler wobble of Gliese 876 indicates [
http://cannon.sfsu.…] that its planet orbits once every 61 days at an average distance of about 1/5 the radius of the Earth's orbit.
Explanation
