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Tuesday, June 10, 2008

We Know About Extrasolar Planets: Now How About Some Extrasolar Moons?

"How to Find Faraway Moons "
Space.com (June 9, 2008)

"While the number of confirmed extrasolar planets is now approaching 300, the tally of extrasolar moons so far identified is still a rather disappointing zero.

"Planets beyond our solar system are incredibly challenging to find. Moons are nearly impossible with today's technology, given that they are generally expected to be quite small compared to their parent worlds.

"Even Earth's moon is invisible on the famous "pale blue dot" image obtained by Voyager 1 from the comparatively small distance of 3.7 billion miles — a photograph taken from well within our solar system...."

The rest of the article tells about a way that astronomers should be able to detect moons orbiting the planets of other stars: and why it's important.

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