Two teams of researchers have for the first time detected the shadow cast by an extrasolar planet passing in front of the sunlike star it orbits.

Cowen, R. 1998. Exploring new worlds. Science News 154(Aug. 8):88.

1999. International Astronomical Union circular. Available at http://astron.berkeley.edu/~gmarcy/hd/iau.htm.

Additional information about the astronomers’ observations can be found at http://schwab.tsuniv.edu/t8/hd209458/pressrelease.html.

Timothy M. Brown
High Altitude Observatory
3450 Mitchell Lane
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000

R. Paul Butler
Carnegie Institute of Washington
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
5243 Broad Branch Road, N.W.
Washington, DC 20015-1305

Gregory W. Henry
Tennessee State University
Center of Excellence in Information Systems
330 10th Avenue, North
Nashville, TN 37203

Geoffrey W. Marcy
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Astronomy
Berkeley, CA 94720

Steven S. Vogt
University of California
Lick Observatory
Santa Cruz, CA 95064

From Science News, Vol. 156, No. 21, November 20, 1999, p. 324. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.