Multiple Exoplanet Systems

Multiple Exoplanet Systems


Asteroid Minerva finds its magical weapons in the sky
Published 12/20/2013 in Franck Marchis Blog Author Franck Marchis
The International Astronomical Union has chosen the names Aegis and Gorgoneion for the two moons of the asteroid (93) Minerva.  My team discovered the small moons in 2009 using the W. M. Keck Telescope and its adaptive optics system. We proposed the names after receiving input from the public. Astronomer J.C. Watson discovered (93) Minerva, a large 150 km diameter asteroid located in the main belt, on Aug. 24, 1867... read more ❯

A Snapshot of Exoplanet Study
Published 5/2/2012 in Franck Marchis Blog Author Franck Marchis
The study of exoplanets is without any doubt the most active and disrupting field in today astronomy. I had often blogged about it since it is my little obsession. Unfortunately, I have a hard time to keep up with the amount of discoveries and announcements being made every week over the past 3 years. This post is a snapshot of the recent study of exoplanets: what we know, what have been recently discovered and what is coming soon. Source: en.wikipedia.org via Franck on Pinterest Today (May 2 2012) the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia lists the characteristics of 763 exoplanets.  Exoplanet App contains 760 discovered exoplanets. The NASA Planet... read more ❯

Discovery of 7 exoplanets around a Sun-like star
Published 8/24/2010 in Franck Marchis Blog Author Franck Marchis
Today, a team of astronomers from Europe led by group of the Observatoire de Geneve announced the discovery of SEVEN exoplanets around a southern hemisphere star called HD 10180.  Even if the name of the star is far from being memorable, our community will remember this major leap in the quest of exoplanets. What do we know about the host star? With a declination of -60 degrees (see Vizier), HD10180 is definitely visible in the southern hemisphere. The star is 127 light-years away in the southern constellation of Hydrus (the Male Water Snake)and has a visual magnitude of 7.3,  which makes it barely visible with... read more ❯