We Travel the Spaceways

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Astronomers using robotic cameras said on Wednesday they had found 10 new planets outside our solar system, while a second team said they had found the youngest planet yet.

The findings add to a growing list of more than 270 so-called extrasolar planets, they told a meeting of astronomers in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The robot team is called "SuperWASP," for Wide Area Search for Planets, and the cameras look for planets transiting, or crossing in front of, their stars. The light from the sun fades just slightly when this happens, and astronomers can extrapolate the size and location of the planet.

Most planets around other stars have been found using a different method, measuring the tiny tugs that a planet makes on its sun's gravitational field.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080402/sc_nm/space_planets_dc