The star is officially GJ 887, or Gliese 887, named for the scientist who put together a catalogue of stars. It's a red dwarf star — cooler than our sun and not nearly as big. It is 11 light-years away, or 64 trillion miles, which is cosmically right next door. Only 11 star systems are closer to our sun than this one.
Astronomers studied the light from the star for months and could see that it was being tugged by the gravity of orbiting bodies, according to the new report. The planets are outside our solar system — what astronomers call exoplanets.
Not to change the topic here:
Newly discovered alien planet spotted zipping around highly active star | Space
Two veteran NASA planet-hunting missions found a Neptune-size planet that circles its young star every Earth week. But don't expect habitability here: The star throws epic temper tantrum-like storms.
The newly found planet — called AU Microscopii b or AU Mic b for short — was discovered by plumbing data gathered by the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), as well as the recently retired NASA Spitzer Space Telescope . Researchers hope to learn more from AU Mic b about how planets evolve, including how their atmospheres form and interact with their parent stars.
Are Planets with Oceans Common in the Galaxy? - Astrobiology
This illustration shows NASA's Cassini spacecraft flying through plumes on Enceladus in October 2015. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Several years ago, planetary scientist Lynnae Quick began to wonder whether any of the more than 4,000 known exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system, might resemble some of the watery moons around Jupiter and Saturn.
Quick, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, decided to explore whether -- hypothetically -- there are planets similar to Europa and Enceladus in the Milky Way galaxy. And, could they, too, be geologically active enough to shoot plumes through their surfaces that could one day be detected by telescopes.
Colorado Skies: Look for Saturn and Jupiter in July – Loveland Reporter-Herald
July's Colorado sky sees Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in the solar system, enter the pre-midnight evening sky side by side for the first time in 20 years.
As these planets plod along in their respective orbits around the sun, every 20 years or so the faster moving planet Jupiter gradually catches up to and passes the slower moving planet Saturn in the night sky.
Over the next several months, the two planets will appear side by side on the Sagittarius-Capricornus border.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Stargazing: Planets and pancakes | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
NASA Simulation Shows Kaleidoscope of Sunsets on Other Worlds | NASA
Chance of finding young Earth-like planets higher than previously thought -- ScienceDaily
Research from the University of Sheffield has found that the chance of finding Earth-like planets in their early stages of formation is much higher than previously thought.
The team studied groups of young stars in the Milky Way to see if these groups were typical compared to theories and previous observations in other star-forming regions in space, and to study if the populations of stars in these groups affected the likelihood of finding forming Earth-like planets.
NASA's new rover will collect martian rocks—and clues to planet's ancient climate | Science | AAAS
Perseverance is thermally tested in artificial sunlight. It will explore more than 500 million years of martian climate.
Happening on Twitter
This "slip of the tongue" is unfortunate for the "positive image" of Pakistan journalists are often encouraged to p… https://t.co/Q5d2usGsuj SecKermani (from Back where I came from. Kinda) Fri Jun 26 11:33:50 +0000 2020
