U.VA. PROFESSOR COMMENTS ON ASTRONOMY RESEARCH

POSSIBLE PLANETS EXCITE ASTRONOMICAL COMMUNITY

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct. 21 -- Astronomers are excited by
the possibility that two newly described cosmic objects may, in
fact, be planets.  If either of these candidate planets is
confirmed, it will be the first time such an object has been
detected outside the solar system.
	One planet-like object has been seen directly, using
near-infrared telescopes, by scientists from the California
Institute of Technology.  Their findings are described in the Oct.
21 issue of the weekly magazine, Science News.  The object circles a
star called GL229, and has a mass 20 times greater than Jupiter's.
According to U.Va. astronomy professor Philip Ianna, the object may
either be a planet or a very dim sort of star known as a brown
dwarf.  Brown dwarf stars have proved very difficult to detect, said
Ianna.  "No matter what this object turns out to be, it is exciting,
" he added.
	Earlier this week, a team of California scientists confirmed
the findings announced Oct. 6 by Swiss astronomers of another
planet-like object.  This one appears to orbit the star 51 Pegasus,
which is 40 light-years from earth.  Unlike the object near GL229,
the one thought to orbit 51 Pegasus was not directly observed.
Instead, its presence was inferred from the effect it has on the
star.  The possible planet is calculated to have a mass one-half
that of Jupiter.  It orbits its sun once every four days.  Ianna
says he is more skeptical that the object near 51 Pegasus is indeed
a planet.
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October 20, 1995

	REPORTERS AND EDITORS:  For more information, contact Philip
Ianna at (804) 924 4898 or (804) 296-4457 (home).