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Article: Alien planet. (Hubble Space Telescope identifies TMR-1C, first photograph of planet outside solar system)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science World
- Article date:
- September 21, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Talk about a Kodak moment! NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped the first picture ever of a planet beyond our solar system--the first visible proof that planets exist elsewhere in the universe. Called TMR-1C, the planet lies in the constellation Taurus, about 450 light-years from Earth. (A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion km.)
Scientists have found evidence of other planets before, but the blazing light of stars prevented them from photographing one. But TMR-1C sits 209 billion km (130 billion mi) away from its two parent stars (called a binary-star system).
The planet is also huge, possibly at least three ...