For years astronomers have scanned the heavens beyond the solar system in search of other planets. Evidence is rapidly accumulated that if they exist. they greatly increase the y that some of the planets may be similar to the earth.
The U.S. and Canadian astronomers reported tantalizing discoveries that strengthened that ikelihood The US team led by David Latham of the Smithsonian Astrophysical observatory in bridge. Mass. found evidence of what might be a gigantic planet 20 times as large as orbiting a star 550 trillion miles away. The Canadians reported nine stars with possible planets within 588 trillion miles of earth they calculated that one ot them was about the size of Jupiter
Because the suspected are lost in the glare of the stars hey orbt they could not ually be seen. Instead, the astronomers analyzed the shifts gh in the spectrum associated with a star as moves A shift towardred means the sourc is moving away from the observer, toward blue that it is moving toward him. By carefully measuring these colour shifts. astronomers detected a characteristic wobble in the motion of the stars that could be caused by the gravitational pull of a nearby orbiting body.
The purported sightings of new planets h generated a good deal of excitement. Latham's especially seemed stronger than the others because as confirmed independently, in this case by a European team in Geneva that had been observing the same star. But the "alleged planet" says Latham is hotter than an oven" and has noxious gaseous atmosphere. Says he "This is not a place you would look for life."