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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1999
> January
> January 15, 1999:
Hour Two: Astronomy Update
| It all comes down to looking for our place in the universe.
Last week, at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, scientists announced the possible discovery of two more planets outside the solar system, a star ringed by a disklike dust cloud possibly sculpted by more planets, and new findings about dwarf galaxies, which were found to be much denser than their wispy, fuzzy appearance would indicate.
The new planets aren't Earth-like - they're more in a league with Jupiter. And surprisingly, astronomers comparing planets in our solar system to the 17 known extrasolar planets have found that our planets are unusual. Most of the other Jupiter-sized planets are closer to their suns, and they tend to travel in elliptical orbits, not the circular ones found in our neck of the woods. Astronomers at the meeting also presented another mystery - why planets in other solar systems seem to be scorched by huge solar flares on a fairly regular basis, yet the Earth has escaped unscathed. | 
Dust ring around a star.
Image Alycia Weinberger,
Eric Balkin (UCLA), Glenn Schneider
(Univ. of AZ) and NASA. | On this hour of Science Friday, we'll get a report on the meeting from astronomer and author Neil Tyson - and we'll take your questions about astronomy in general, from our nearest neighbors to the furthest known star.
Guests:
Neil Tyson
Department of Astrophysics
Princeton University
Director, Hayden Planetarium
American Museum of Natural History
New York, NY
Books/Articles Discussed:
Just Visiting This Planet : Merlin Answers More Questions About Everything Under the Sun, Moon, and Stars by Neil De Grasse Tyson.Doubleday, 1998.
Merlin's Tour of the Universe : A Skywatcher's Guide to Everything from Mars and Quasars to Comets, Planets, Blue Moons, and Werewolves by Neil De Grasse Tyson Main Street Books, 1997.
Related Links:
Hubble Space Telescope
American Astronomical Society
CNN.com: Two New Planets Found Outside Solar System
AMNH Interview with
Neil Tyson
This segment produced by:
Annette Heist
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist
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