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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
70 Virginis b: A New Water Planet?
Explanation: The star 70 Virginis has a planet. This recent discovery is the second known case of a planet orbiting a normal star other than our Sun itself. The first case involved 51 Pegasi and was announced last year. The star 70 Vir , shown in the center of the above false-color picture, is very much like the Sun . The planet is not visible above - the unusual structure surrounding the star is caused by the telescope. The planet, designated 70 Vir b for short, was discovered by very slight periodic shifts in its colors. Defining characteristics of this planet include that it is at least eight times the mass of Jupiter , it's orbit is much smaller than Jupiter 's, and it's temperature allows water to exist in liquid form - like on the Earth . Life on Earth is based on liquid water - could life exist here too?
| Date | January 30, 1996 |
|---|---|
| Credit |
Discovery Credit: G. Marcy (SFSU), and P. Butler (UC Berkeley) Photo Copyright: Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Anglo-Australian Observatory, and AURA |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |