Finding Planets Is Job One: Explaining Them Is Next
Robert C. Cowen, Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor
PLANET-HUNTING astronomers have crossed a watershed. Encouraged by detection of Jupiter-class planets orbiting sun-like stars, they are turning from mere hopeful exploration to the more demanding task of gaining a deeper understanding of how planetary systems form.
"We're at a turning point ... we're {actually} finding new worlds!" exclaims William Borucki of the NASA/Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. "We're going from the discovery phase to trying to understand the science," explains William Cochran of the University of Texas at Austin.
Yet the challenge now is to find examples of more extensive planetary systems, says David Black, director of the …
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Publication information:
Article title: Finding Planets Is Job One: Explaining Them Is Next.
Contributors: Robert C. Cowen, Monitor - Author.
Newspaper title: The Christian Science Monitor.
Publication date: January 19, 1996.
Page number: 3.
© 2009 The Christian Science Publishing Society.
Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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