Post by Vegas on Sept 15, 2011 19:17:11 GMT -5
Tatooine for real? Scientists confirm planet orbiting two suns.
Tatooine is the mythical home of Luke Skywalker. Now, scientists have identified a planet in a binary system 200 light-years away, although the planet is more like Saturn in mass and makeup.
Cue the "Star Wars" theme, but look no farther than 200 light-years away in our own galaxy for the first confirmed planet orbiting two suns – in effect, a frigid, oversize Tatooine.
On Thursday, a team of scientists with NASA's Kepler planet-hunting mission announced the discovery. Unlike Luke Skywalker's mythical home, however, this planet is more like Saturn in mass and makeup – a thick gaseous atmosphere surrounding a rocky core.
The planet's core has 40 to 60 times the mass of Earth, the Kepler scientists estimate. Temperatures range between an Antarctica-like minus 100 and minus 150 degrees F.
www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/0915/Tatooine-for-real-Scientists-confirm-planet-orbiting-two-suns
Tatooine is the mythical home of Luke Skywalker. Now, scientists have identified a planet in a binary system 200 light-years away, although the planet is more like Saturn in mass and makeup.
Cue the "Star Wars" theme, but look no farther than 200 light-years away in our own galaxy for the first confirmed planet orbiting two suns – in effect, a frigid, oversize Tatooine.
On Thursday, a team of scientists with NASA's Kepler planet-hunting mission announced the discovery. Unlike Luke Skywalker's mythical home, however, this planet is more like Saturn in mass and makeup – a thick gaseous atmosphere surrounding a rocky core.
The planet's core has 40 to 60 times the mass of Earth, the Kepler scientists estimate. Temperatures range between an Antarctica-like minus 100 and minus 150 degrees F.
www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/0915/Tatooine-for-real-Scientists-confirm-planet-orbiting-two-suns
