Astronomers Discover New Star Around 55 Cancri

Distance is not an issue when it comes to setting records, it seems. Researchers have detected a fifth planet orbiting 55 Cancri. 55 Cancri is a star that is like the sun and is located in the constellation called Cancer, 41 light years away.

Astronomers and researchers who detected the new planet called it a mini-Saturn and said it was about 46 earth masses. Their report, which has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, places the new planet in the large gap existing between the third and fifth planets orbiting 55 Cancri.

Scientists believe the location where the new planet has been discovered is probably the place where conditions were ideal for water to maintain its liquid state. However, the size of the planet is an indication of its contents, believed to be hydrogen and helium in their gaseous states. That being the case, it would not be possible to find liquid water on this planet.

However, the finding of the new planet in its current location definitely increases the chances of there being other planets, with conditions similar to that in earth, in the adjoining areas.

This is the first time scientists have been able to detect a planetary system with five planets, and scientists are very excited about this finding. Geoffrey Marcy, a veteran planet hunter and also member of the group who discovered the new planet, said the discovery proved that our solar system was not an unusual phenomenon.

55 Cancri has been one of the first stars that scientists discovered as having an exoplanet, which is essentially an extrasolar planet. Scientists and astronomers have detected the five planets around 55 Cancri over a period spanning 18 years. The process of detection has involved repeated measurements at the Lick and Keck observatories in California and Hawaii, respectively.

Scientists say 55 Cancri seems like a magnified version of our own solar system. The fifth planet orbiting 55 Cancri, the one farthest from the star is a huge planet that is almost four times the size of Jupiter. It revolves at approximately the same distance that separates our sun and Jupiter.

Researchers and astronomers have been examining other stars to see if there are other exoplanets. However, they have not given as much attention to any of the other stars as they have to 55 Cancri. Debra Fischer, an astronomer with San Francisco State University, said there was a strong possibility of other planets being present in the area around where they discovered the new planet.

Jonathan Lunine of the University of Arizona in Tucson had another perspective to the whole matter. He said the large size of 55 Cancri’s fifth and outermost planet could be a strong factor in determining the presence of other planets in the region. He said the large size could have cleaned up the place of any planetary material.