Discovery
Like the majority of known extrasolar planets, 47 Ursae Majoris b was discovered by detecting the changes in its star's radial velocity as the planet's gravity pulls the star around. This was achieved by observing the Doppler shift of the spectrum of 47 Ursae Majoris. After the discovery of the first extrasolar planet around a Sun-like star, 51 Pegasi b, astronomers Geoffrey Marcy and R. Paul Butler searched through their observational data for signs of extrasolar planets and soon discovered two: 47 Ursae Majoris b and 70 Virginis b. The discovery of 47 Ursae Majoris b was announced in 1996.
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Famous quotes containing the word discovery:
“We early arrive at the great discovery that there is one mind common to all individual men: that what is individual is less than what is universal ... that error, vice and disease have their seat in the superficial or individual nature.”
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