images

Artist view of planetary system around Gliese 581

by

Don Dixon/Novapix

Reference

a-exo99-30021

Date

2007-05-07

As we approach the planet Gliese 851c, its parent star looms nearly a dozen times bigger than our sun appears from Earth. An inner planet roughly the size of Saturn transits the solar disk, close enough to show significant detail without a telescope.