Monday, October 24, 2011

NASA CalTech:ExoPlanets Under a Red Dwarf Sun

This artist's concept illustrates a young, red dwarf star surrounded by three planets.

Such stars are dimmer and smaller than yellow stars like our sun, which makes them ideal targets for astronomers wishing to take images of planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets.

NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) is helping to identify young, red dwarf stars that are close to us by detecting their ultraviolet light (stars give off a lot of ultraviolet light in their youth).

Full story of NASA/Caltech's Galaxy Evo Explorer and the hunt for Red Dwarf Stars here. Also check out their other stories and galleries at Caltech's GALEX.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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