PLANET fever consumed the International Astronomical Union meeting in
Manchester this week. The 10 new planets reported to be orbiting distant stars
bring the total so far to about 50. Six years ago the only planets in the
Universe seemed to be the nine in our own Solar System.
Like their predecessors, the newcomers are a motley crew. Most are so massive
they must be gas giants, like Jupiter. But they do not sit in the same
comfortable orbit as Jupiter. Some are much closer to their stars, orbiting at a
fantastic pace, while others fly off in long elliptical…
