Updated 15 October 2001, 19.59

			Fact File
	New planet facts
		First "extra-solar" planets discovered in 1995
		74 planets known to exist outside our solar system
		Orbits range from 6 days to 6 years

Scientists think that if there are Jupiter-like planets out there, then there could be Earth-like ones as well.

Wobbling stars

Despite some of them being up to 10 times the size of Jupiter, these planets are still too far away to be seen.

But scientists all over the world are looking at nearby stars and seeing them "wobble"!

This is the effect the planet has on the star as it orbits round it.

The "wobbles" were spotted by telescopes in Hawaii, New South Wales in Australia and California in the US.

As we find more and more planets, it shows the chances of us being alone in the universe become smaller and smaller.

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More Info

Spaced out!

Past Stories
	Distant galaxy snapped by telescope

Web Links
	Extra-solar planet search
	Extra-solar planets encyclopaedia
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