Astronomers Discover Solar System with Three Planets
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events: 1900-2001
- Categories: Science
- Subcategories: Astronomy, Astronomers, Cosmology
- Curriculum: American History 1951-present, Australian/New Zealand History
- Geographical Location: San Francisco
- Date: April 15, 1999
Article abstract: Careful analysis of light from Upsilon Andromedae revealed the first known multiple-planet system orbiting a normal star.
Discovery of a New Planetary System
On April 15, 1999, two teams of astronomers, represented by R. Paul Butler, Geoffrey W. Marcy, and Peter Nisenson, independently obtained evidence that three planets orbit the star Upsilon Andromedae, a star not too different from the Sun. Planets are detected about stars other than the Sun by carefully monitoring the spectra of those stars to look for evidence of periodic motion....
[The entire page is 941 words long]
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