Friday, February 03, 2006

Another Earth?

OGLE-2005-BLG-290: Five times bigger than earth.

An international team of scientists has discovered a planet five times bigger than Earth. Called OGLE-2005-BLG-290, it is the smallest spotted outside the solar system. It orbits a red dwarf star in the Sagittarius constellation and takes a decade to circle its star. Researchers say its surface is likely to be rocky and covered by frozen seas. The planet was discovered in July 2005 through telescopes in Chile, Australia and South Africa using a technique called "microlensing" light analysis, which is based on Albert Einstein's theory. The discovery involved a concerted effort by 32 institutions in France, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Chile, Austria, New Zealand, United States, Australia, South Africa, Japan and the U.K.

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