ESA astronomers announced this week that they've discovered two more exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system, using the space-based COROT observatory. The two new finds are Jupiter-sized gas giants that orbit close to their parent stars.
But the astronomers also reported that COROT has picked up another object that they can't quite explain. This space oddity, COROT-exo-3b, looks to lie somewhere between a brown dwarf and a planet. It may even be a star, though if that's the case, scientists say it would be among the smallest ever detected.
The observatory is designed to pick up small, rocky planets, so the two new Jupiter-sized finds aren't even its specialty. But the scientists say that they're also hoping to re-examine a fourth object, a potential exoplanet that may be Earth-scale.
Via ESA
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Science is reinventing play, from extreme sports to gamification to ridiculous roller coasters to the playgrounds of tomorrow, and this issue is chock full of fun. Also, on a less fun note: Did global warming destroy my hometown?
from Brisbane, Queensland
Aliens!
from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Small Star? I sure hope its some messed up mystery like a comet that just stopped moving...
Yeah.. but Its probably nothing of importance. Dont Explore It. STOP.
its most probably a klingon warbird
why do the world want for its doom.
stay away from the space oddity