Uranus Elsewhere: Ice Giant Planet Discovered 25,000 Light Years Away
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - 13:40
in Astronomy & Space
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Our view of other solar systems just got a little more familiar, with the discovery of a planet 25,000 light-years away that resembles our own Uranus. Astronomers have discovered hundreds of planets around the Milky Way, including rocky planets similar to Earth and gas planets similar to Jupiter, but there is a third type of planet in our solar system — part gas, part ice, like Uranus and Neptune — called an "ice giant" and researchers have spotted one outside Sol's orbit for the first time. But let's not build a cute robot and send it there just yet; it's 25,000 light years away. read more