Planet or No Planet?
(From the May/June 1997 issue of StarDate magazine)
One of the first possible planets discovered outside our solar system may not exist, according to David Gray, an astronomer at the University of Western Ontario. In late 1995, European astronomers announced that a planet roughly the size of Jupiter orbits 51 Pegasi, a Sun-like star in the constellation Pegasus. The planet's gravity pulls at 51 Pegasi, changing the characteristics of its light. But in the February 27 issue of Nature, Gray wrote that the change in the star's light is more likely caused by rhythmic pulsations of 51 Pegasi, or by spots on its surface that move in and out of view as the star turns on its axis. The astronomers who made the original discovery stand by their findings. -- — Damond Benningfield
|
  |
Contact StarDate | About StarDate | Friends of McDonald | Sign up for Sky Tips
