Astronomers Spot A Planet Using Einstein's Theory Of Relativity
Kepler-76b With Star An artist's rendition of the newly discovered planet, Keplar-76b, and the star it orbits. The star has a slight elliptical shape that's been exaggerated in this illustration. David A. Aguilar (CfA) First proposed 10 years ago, the method recently helped scientists locate a super-hot gas giant 2,000 light-years away. A different algorithm for discovering planets recently proved its mettle, identifying a new planet that's like a bigger, hotter Jupiter. A team of astronomers from Israel, the U.S. and Denmark discovered a new gas giant using a method originally proposed 10 years ago, based on Einstein's theory of relativity. This is the first time they've used the method to find a planet. The planet orbits a star in the constellation Cygnus, about 2,000 light-years away from Earth. It's about 25 percent larger than Jupiter in diameter and twice as massive. It always presents the same face to its star, the way...