No new planets, but the possibility of one with two Suns..

Real-Life 'Tatooine' Planets With Two Suns May Be More Common Than Previously Thought

Luke Skywalker's home planet, Tatooine, may exist only in the make-believe world of Star Wars, but astronomers have long known that planets with two suns exist in the real world too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/31/tatooine-planets-two-suns-common_n_6970532.html

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If Jupiter were somewhat bigger then we would have two suns ourselves.

If Jupiter were somewhat bigger then we would have two suns ourselves.

Yep, just a tad too small for producing its own energy but influencing us more than we can imagine.

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If somewhat you mean 12-80 times more of Jupiter...yeah, that would be somewhat! :D

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU

No new planets. If there is water there is life?

The Solar System and Beyond is Awash in Water

As NASA missions explore our solar system and search for new worlds, they are finding water in surprising places. Water is but one piece of our search for habitable planets and life beyond Earth, yet it links many seemingly unrelated worlds in surprising ways.

"NASA science activities have provided a wave of amazing findings related to water in recent years that inspire us to continue investigating our origins and the fascinating possibilities for other worlds, and life, in the universe," said Ellen Stofan, chief scientist for the agency. "In our lifetime, we may very well finally answer whether we are alone in the solar system and beyond."

http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/the-solar-system-and-beyond-is-awash-in-water/index.html

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NASA's Spitzer Spots Planet Deep Within Our Galaxy

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has teamed up with a telescope on the ground to find a remote gas planet about 13,000 light-years away, making it one of the most distant planets known.

The discovery demonstrates that Spitzer -- from its unique perch in space -- can be used to help solve the puzzle of how planets are distributed throughout our flat, spiral-shaped Milky Way galaxy. Are they concentrated heavily in its central hub, or more evenly spread throughout its suburbs?



http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/nasas-spitzer-spots-planet-deep-within-our-galaxy/index.html

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Lynn, thanx very good read.

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Lynn, thanx very good read.

Thanks and your welcome :)

13,000 light-years away.

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First Exoplanet Discovered by Reflected Visible Light

Astronomers have detected an exoplanet's visible-light spectrum directly for the first time ever, a milestone that could help bring many other alien worlds into clearer focus down the road.

The scientists used the HARPS instrument on the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile to study the spectrum of visible light reflected off the exoplanet 51 Pegasi b, which lies about 50 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.

http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/first-exoplanet-discovered-by-reflected-visible-light-150422.htm

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First Exoplanet Discovered by Reflected Visible Light

Astronomers have detected an exoplanet's visible-light spectrum directly for the first time ever, a milestone that could help bring many other alien worlds into clearer focus down the road.

The scientists used the HARPS instrument on the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile to study the spectrum of visible light reflected off the exoplanet 51 Pegasi b, which lies about 50 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.

http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/first-exoplanet-discovered-by-reflected-visible-light-150422.htm

This is HUGE, man! WoW! ;)

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU

Update.

Robotic telescope discovers three super-Earth planetary neighbors

BERKELEY —

Using a robotic telescope at Lick Observatory that scans the sky night after night, astronomers have discovered three planets – supersized Earths ‑ around a nearby star.

“The three planets are unlike anything in our solar system, with masses seven to eight times the mass of Earth and orbits very close to their host star,” said UC Berkeley graduate student Lauren Weiss.

She is the leader of the UC Berkeley component of the team that discovered the planets with the help of the Automated Planet Finder, a relatively new telescope atop Mt. Hamilton near San Jose dedicated to finding super-Earths and Earth-size planets.

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2015/04/28/robotic-telescope-discovers-three-super-earth-planetary-neighbors/

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... Using a robotic telescope at Lick Observatory that scans the sky night after night, astronomers have discovered three planets – supersized Earths ‑ around a nearby star. ...

Is that the telescope that was soon to close due to lack of funding?...



Here's another spin on the discovery from The Register:

ROBOT telescope discovers ENORMOUS planetary neighbours

...The goal of the APF, however, is to find small planets around the nearest stars, in the hope that some of them may have temperatures and surface conditions suitable for life.

"The discovery demonstrates the APF’s ability to find low-mass planets around nearby stars," Weiss said. "Robotic telescopes are going to be the way we find planets in the future."...


Keep searchin',
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Yes, Lick Observatory was to close for lack of funding due to the cost of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.Big fish eat small fish even in astronomy.
Tullio

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Exoplanet - HATS-6

HATS-6b: Astronomers Discover Strange Saturn-like Exoplanet

An international group of astronomers from the United States, Australia, Chile, Germany, and Hungary, has discovered an extrasolar gas giant orbiting very close to a small cool star called HATS-6.

HATS-6, also known as MASS 05523523-1901539, lies at a distance of 484 light-years from Earth.

It is a 15th magnitude M-dwarf star, which is one of the most numerous types of stars in our Galaxy.

Although M-dwarfs are common, they are not well understood. Because they are cool they are also dim, for example, HATS-6 emits only 1/12th of the light of our Sun.

http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/science-hats6b-saturn-like-exoplanet-02758.html

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Hell On (Super-)Earth: Extreme Exoplanet Volcanism Spied

Using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have revealed wild atmospheric changes on a well-studied exoplanet — changes that they suspect are driven by extreme volcanic activity.

Over a period of two years, the team, led by University of Cambridge researchers, noted a three-fold change in temperature on the surface of 55 Cancri e. The super-Earth planet orbits a sun-like star 40 light-years away in the constellation of Cancer. It is twice the size of Earth and eight times our planet’s mass.

http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/hell-on-super-earth-extreme-exoplanet-volcanism-spied-150505.htm

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No alien life.

Mystery of the Giant ExoPlanets --An Update

There are 565 exoplanets currently known that are as massive as Jupiter or bigger, about one third of the total known, confirmed exoplanet population. About one quarter of the massive population orbits very close to its star, with periods of less than ten days (the Earth takes about 365 days to orbit the Sun). Heated by the nearby star’s radiation, these giants are often called hot Jupiters.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2015/05/mystery-of-the-giant-exoplanets-an-update.html

No place to escape to yet. Maybe we should get serious about keeping what we've got habitable.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

No place to escape to yet. Maybe we should get serious about keeping what we've got habitable.

+1

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Update:

Terrestrial Exoplanets Have Circular Orbits, Say Astronomers

Solar System planets move on almost circular orbits. In contrast, many extrasolar gas giants travel on highly elliptical orbits, whereas the shape of the orbits of smaller, more terrestrial, exoplanets has remained largely elusive.

Now, a new study using data from NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope shows that trajectories of small, terrestrial planets stand in stark contrast to those of more massive exoplanets.

http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/science-terrestrial-exoplanets-circular-orbits-02865.html

This teenager discovered a new planet on his third day at work.


Staffordshire schoolboy discovers new planet

A planet 1,000 light-years away has been found by a schoolboy from Staffordshire.

Tom Wagg, 17, a student at Newcastle-under-Lyme School, said he was "hugely excited" by his discovery.

WASP-142b is 1000 light years away

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-33084474