This artist’s rendering of a distant solar system shows the location of two newly discovered planets -- one resembling Jupiter (middle right) and one resembling Saturn (bottom). The question mark indicates where an inner system of planets would be located -- if the solar system contained terrestrial planets similar to Earth. Ohio State University astronomers led an international collaboration that published the discovery in the February 15 issue of the journal Science. Image courtesy of Cheongho Han and colleagues at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute.
An international team of astronomers has discovered two planets that resemble smaller versions of Jupiter and Saturn in a solar system nearly 5,000 light years away. Scott Gaudi (left), assistant professor of astronomy at Ohio State University, took the lead in analyzing data on the discovery, published in the February 15, 2008 issue of the journal Science. Andrew Gould (right), professor of astronomy at Ohio State, organized astronomers worldwide to study the event. Photo by Jo McCulty, courtesy of Ohio State University.
This artist’s rendering of a distant solar system shows two newly discovered planets -- one resembling Jupiter (middle) and one resembling Saturn (middle right). Both planets orbit a star that is about half the size of our sun. The light from a more distant star (upper right) made the discovery possible, as it brightened and dimmed through a phenomenon called gravitational microlensing. Ohio State University astronomers led an international collaboration that published the discovery in the February 15 issue of the journal Science. Image courtesy of Cheongho Han and colleagues at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute.

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