"Lightest"-- that implies a gas pipsqueak, I think. -- Joe ________________________________ From: Wiggins Patrick <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> To: utah astronomy listserve utah astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 5:44 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Earth-Mass Planet Found in Nearest Star System Planet Found in Nearest Star System to Earth ESO’s HARPS instrument finds Earth-mass exoplanet orbiting Alpha Centauri B European astronomers have discovered a planet with about the mass of the Earth orbiting a star in the Alpha Centauri system — the nearest to Earth. It is also the lightest exoplanet ever discovered around a star like the Sun. The planet was detected using the HARPS instrument on the 3.6-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. The results will appear online in the journal Nature on 17 October 2012. The release, images and videos are available on: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1241/ patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".