Amateur Astronomers Discover 42 Alien Planets

by Elizabeth Howell, SPACE.com Contributor

Date: 11 January 2013 Time: 01:44 PM ET

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This artist's Impression depicts the view from a moon around newly found planet PH2 b. CREDIT: Haven Giguere View full size image

A team of amateurs has discovered evidence for 42 alien planets, including a Jupiter-size world that could potentially be habitable, by sifting through data from a NASA spacecraft.

Forty volunteers with the crowd-sourcing Planet Hunters project discovered the new planet candidates, which include 15 potentially habitable worlds and PH2 b, a Jupiter-size planet that the team confirmed to be in the habitable zone of its parent star.

This is the second time Planet Hunters project, which is overseen by Zooniverse, has confirmed a new exoplanet discovery. What's more, several candidate planets found by the project may be in the habitable zones of their parent stars. These candidates are awaiting confirmation by professional astronomers.

More - Link >>> http://www.space.com/19233-amateurs-discover-alien-planets.html

Source: Space.com .

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