55 Cancri: Familiar Planet Discovered
			
		
		
			Illustration Credit & 
Copyright: 
Lynette Cook
		
		
			Is our Solar System unique?  
The discovery of a Jupiter-like planet in a Jupiter-like orbit around nearby 
Sun-like star 
55 Cancri, 
announced yesterday, gives a new indication that 
planetary systems similar to our 
Solar System 
likely exist elsewhere.  
The planet, discovered by 
G. Marcy 
(UC Berkeley) and collaborators, 
is one of two new planets found around 
55 Cancri 
-- in 1997 a Jupiter-massed planet was found orbiting very close in.  
The finding involved noting 
subtle changes in the speed 
of the star caused by its orbiting planets.  
The above drawing depicts what this planet might look like, 
complete with a hypothetical moon.  
The star 
55 Cancri, only 40 light-years distant, is 
visible with 
binoculars towards the constellation of 
Cancer.