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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: "Hot Jupiters" Could Give Rise to Earthlike Worlds, Study Says


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A lineup of planets from two star systems (not to scale)—part of our solar system (top) and a hypothetical "hot Jupiter" system (bottom). The lower planetary system contains a "hot Earth," a rocky Earthlike planet orbiting very close to the star; a "hot Jupiter," a gas giant close to the star; an ocean-covered planet in the "habitable zone;" and several icy planets in the outer reaches.

By analyzing how hot Jupiters form, new computer models predict that more than a third of the star systems containing such gas giants may also harbor Earthlike planets.

Image courtesy Sean Raymond, using images from NASA