An object smaller than Pluto has been discovered orbiting a dying star in what astronomers said Monday resembles a pint-sized version of our solar system. In a separate study, a disk of planet-building material was spied circling a dim star-like object just 15 times the mass of Jupiter. The brown dwarf, as it is known, is a cosmically lukewarm ball of gas that straddles the definition between planet and star. The system could evolve into a compact, dim solar system, again with a familiar look. Continued at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/miniature_solarsys_050207.html ******************** http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.thinking http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&group=alt.thinking&nosubgroups=1
