Extrasolar planet hunters are excited about a not-so-hot discovery. For the first time they’ve found a relatively cool extrasolar planet that they can study in detail.
The finding is a milestone, says study coauthor Hans Deeg of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Tenerife, Spain, because it is the first time astronomers have found an extrasolar planet that not only is cool enough to be similar in composition and history to the familiar solar system gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, but also passes in front of the star it orbits.
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