First planet detected by COROT

[chris]

Very impressive first results from COROT:

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMCKNU681F_index_0.html

This first planet has a radius of 1.8 time Jupiter and a very short 1.5 day orbital period. Ground observations to verify the discovery determined a mass of 1.3 Jupiters. Sensitivity is better than expected, and there's speculation that COROT may be able to detect Earth-sized transiting planets.

--Chris

[andrew2364]

It's quite amazing. A new world discovered every other day. My young son takes it for granted, but I laugh when I think back to the astronomy books I had when I was young, and how they all agreed that other solar systems were probably very rare and that the Sun might even be unique in having a planetary retinue.

[Ynjevi]

Expect for its apparently huge size, the planet is fairly regular. At this point, the more exciting news is that COROT's photometry is far better than anticipated -- it should be able to spot Earth-size planets around red dwarfs and maybe even around orange dwarfs.