Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Planet 'spotted' in Andromeda galaxy



Astronomers believe they may have discovered the first planet ever detected in another galaxy. The new world was apparently glimpsed in the closest giant spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, Messier 31 in the constellation of Andromeda. It lies an incredible 2.5 million light-years away - too far normally to be seen. But it revealed itself thanks to a phenomenon called microlensing where the gravitational field of an object closer to Earth acts like a magnifying glass.

Read the article here.

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