Classifieds:   |   |   |  Posted 1/25/2006 5:35 PM     Updated
1/25/2006 5:44 PM E-Mail Newsletters  Smallest, most distant
planet outside solar system found NEW YORK — Astronomers say
they've found what may be the smallest and most distant planet
known to be orbiting a star outside our own solar system.  The
work suggests that such small rocky or icy planets may be more
common in the cosmos than Jupiter-sized gas giant planets,
researchers said. The discovery also indicates the power of a
relatively new method of finding such "exoplanets." (Related
item: This week in space photo gallery)  All of the exoplanets
discovered so far around distant stars are larger than Earth.
The newly found planet is about 5.5 times the mass of Earth,
making it much smaller than most of the 160 previous exoplanet
discoveries.  It appears to be less massive than another small
planet found recently, but because of uncertainties in
estimating mass that isn't known for certain, the scientists
said.    Planet video  The finding was r