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Astronomers discover record 5th planet around nearby star 55 Cancri

11-06-2007 · EurekAlert!

A record-breaking fifth planet has been discovered around 55 Cancri, a yellowish star 41 lightyears from Earth and now the only known star apart from the Sun with 5 planets. The discovery implies that the star has more planets that are smaller than the gas giants found so far and possibly include a rocky, Earth-like planet, according to astronomers Geoff Marcy of UC-Berkeley and Debra Fischer of San Francisco State University.

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Keywords: astronomers, discover, record, 5th, planet, star, cancri, astronomer

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