Largest extrasolar planetary system discovered.

I think the time to leave our planetary cradle is fast approaching. It’s time we got out of the house, began looking around the (galactic) neighbourhood, and met a few of the people on the other side of the fence (ok, a friendly term for the yawning abyss between stars).

It seems there’s houses (ok, planets) in the next valley (as it were), so why not go and see if anyone’s home?

A fifth planet has been discovered around a nearby star [called 55 Cancri, about 41 light years away], making it the largest planetary system known outside our own.

The planet itself is akin to our own Saturn. Saturn is a fun sort of planet. Did you know that if there were an ocean big enough, Saturn would float in it like a beach ball?

The planet appears to be a gas giant like Saturn, but scientists say any large moons it may have could potentially host life, since the planet lies in the “habitable” zone around its star, where liquid water can exist.

Sounds good. Time to take my new star ship, USS disassociated, (I’ll even keep the lower case d there as well) out for a spin.

Actually there’s a rather cool NASA created animated simulation of the journey from Earth to the 55 Cancri system… the jaunt through the asteroid belt takes me back to my days piloting the Millennium Falcon!