Date Released: Thursday, November 29, 2007
Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
More than 260 planets have already been discovered orbiting other stars, and new ones are found almost every month. Having trouble keeping track? Help is on the way.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has revamped its award-winning PlanetQuest website with improved tools to help users stay on top of the latest discoveries, at http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov.
PlanetQuest 2.0 features include:
- The Visual New Worlds Atlas: A continuously updated database of extrasolar planets, with star images, planet system visualizations, and graphics comparing other planets to those in our own solar system.
- Desktop planet counter: Install this widget for your PC or Mac and keep up with the current tally of newly-discovered planets.
- Enhanced multimedia gallery: Games, movies and simulations immerse you in the world of interstellar exploration.
- Map of planet hunters: Interactive global view of scientists and techniques involved in searching for another Earth.
JPL is part of NASA's ongoing program of searching for planets around other stars, particularly those that might be Earthlike and potentially hospitable to life.
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
"Keep Track of New Worlds: PlanetQuest 2.0." SpaceRef. 30 November 2007. 16 December 2007. <http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=24145>