Exoplanet Duo Orbits A Nearby Ancient Kapteyn's Star

Alien worlds are exoplanets that circle stars beyond our Sun. For a generation now, planet-hunting astronomers have been spotting these very remote worlds, and have found that while some bear an almost eerie resemblance to the eight familiar major planets that dwell in our own Solar System, others are so bizarre that they are unlike anything astronomers ever dreamed of seeing.

In June 2014, an international team of astronomers reported their discovery of a delightful duo of planets circling a nearby and very ancient star known as Kapteyn's Star. One of these newly discovered planets circles within its parent star's habitable zone, which is that "just right" Goldilocks distance for water to exist on its surface in its life-sustaining liquid state. Where there is liquid water, the possibility--though not the promise--of life exists as well. The study has been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Named for the Dutch astronomer Jacobus Kapteyn, who discovered it towards the close of the 19th century, Kapteyn's Star is very speedy. In fact, it is the second fastest-moving star in the sky, and is a denizen of the our Milky Way's galactic halo, which is an extended cloud of stars that circle our Galaxy in extremely elliptical orbits. Kapteyn's Star is a red dwarf sporting only one-third the mass of our Sun, and it can be observed in the southern constellation of Pictor with only an amateur 'scope.