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Science 6 October 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5489, p. 9
DOI:

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This Week in Science

About 47 extrasolar planets have been detected orbiting around stars, which indicates that planets may be relatively common in the universe. Zapatero Osorio et al. (p. 103; see the news story by Irion) have used optical and near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy to image and determine the temperature of several young, low-mass objects (5 to 15 Jupiter masses and 1 to 5 million years old) in the nearby stellar cluster around s Orionis. Because these objects are very cool (1700 to 2200 kelvin), they cannot sustain nuclear burning, which suggests that they may be planets. If they are planets, however, they are not orbiting any star. Such isolated planets would add a new challenge to planet formation models and the time scales over which planets may form.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)