Monday, October 09, 2006

Hubble finds new class of extra solar planets

Astronomers have discovered a new class of planets outside the solar system that hug their parent stars so tightly they take less than a day to complete an orbit.

Using the Hubble telescope, astronomers found new planets near the center of the Milky Way that orbit their parent stars in as few as 10 hours.

The newly discovered planets are in a category called "Hot Jupiter" planets. A hot Jupiter planet is a gas giant which orbits its parent star in a very close orbit. These new planets are in this class except they move even more quickly around their parent stars, which are smaller than the sun.

Surface temperatures on those "ultra-short period planets" are about 3,000 degrees F (1,650 degrees C)

Their parent stars are so nearby they fill up one-third of the sky from the horizon to the zenith

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