By Ron Cowen
Looking at a star 90 light-years away, astronomers have found what may be the closest analog known to our solar system. By recording the motion of the sunlike star HD 70642 for 5 years, scientists have discerned that an unseen planet at least twice as massive as Jupiter is tugging on it.
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Like Jupiter, this extrasolar planet lies billions of miles from its parent star. It shares another important property with Jupiter: Its orbit is nearly circular, a rarity among planets that lie relatively far from their parent stars. Simulations show that outer planets with such a trajectory are conducive to the survival of inner planets that could harbor life.