Post by starfish on Jan 14, 2011 10:39:41 GMT -5
Tiny, Earth-Like Planet Discovered
The rocky planet is the "missing link" in the search for worlds beyond our own.
The first iron-clad proof of a rocky planet beyond the solar system has been found using the Kepler Space Telescope.
"It's the planetary missing link," said University of California-Berkeley astronomer Geoff Marcy, who likened the find to the development of penicillin and the discovery of DNA.
So far Marcy and other scientists have found more than 500 planets beyond the solar system, most of which are large gas worlds like Jupiter or Saturn. The planet-hunters' holy grail is to find a place like Earth.
The rocky planet is the "missing link" in the search for worlds beyond our own.
The first iron-clad proof of a rocky planet beyond the solar system has been found using the Kepler Space Telescope.
"It's the planetary missing link," said University of California-Berkeley astronomer Geoff Marcy, who likened the find to the development of penicillin and the discovery of DNA.
So far Marcy and other scientists have found more than 500 planets beyond the solar system, most of which are large gas worlds like Jupiter or Saturn. The planet-hunters' holy grail is to find a place like Earth.