Three sun planet
Maciej Konacki, a senior postdoctoral scholar in planetary science at Caltech, reported the discovery of the planet orbiting the main star of the close-triple-star system known as HD 188753. The three stars are about 149 light-years from Earth.
Konacki calls this new type of planet as "Tatooine planets," because of the similarity to Luke Skywalker's view of his home planet's sky in the first Star Wars movie.
He found this triple-sun planet in the first 20 stars he looked at. He plans to survey about 450 stars in the future.
About 30 extrasolar planets have been found around double-star systems, or binaries. This is a small percentage of the total number of extrasolar planets, even though multi-star systems outnumber single star systems.
"The environment in which this planet exists is quite spectacular," says Konacki. "With three suns, the sky view must be out of this world-literally and figuratively."
The work was funded by NASA.
NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe
by Terence Dickinson
NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe
Amazon Price: $23.10 (as of 12/15/2009)
The third edition of Nightwatch continues its tradition of being the best handbook for the beginning astronomer. Terence Dickinson covers all the problems beginners face, starting with the fact that the night sky does not look the way a modern city-dweller expects. He discusses light pollution, how to choose binoculars and telescopes, how to pronounce the names of stars and constellations, telescope mounts, averted vision, and why the harvest moon looks especially bright. Most of the lovely photographs in the book were taken by amateurs, which gives the section on astrophotography a particularly inspirational gleam.
Dickinson's star charts are very handy, each covering a reasonable field of view and mapping the most interesting amateur objects. He gives good advice for planet watching, which he notes "is one of the few astronomical activities that can be conducted almost as well from the city as from dark rural locations."
Altogether, the watchword for Nightwatch is indeed "practical"--this is a book to be used, not just read. Spiral-bound to lie flat or to fold back undamaged, it's a field guide that pulls its own weight in the field. Author Timothy Ferris says, "Like a good night sky, Nightwatch is clear and wind-free. Try it and see for yourself."
Planets and stars size in scale
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