Hubble confirms nearest known extrasolar planet

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, in collaboration with ground-based observatories, has provided definitive evidence for the existence of the nearest extrasolar planet to our solar system.

The Jupiter-sized world orbits the Sun-like star Epsilon Eridani, which is only 10.5 light-years away (approximately 63 trillion miles). The planet is so close it may be observable by Hubble and large ground-based telescopes in late 2007, when the planet makes its closest approach to Epsilon Eridani during its 6.9-year orbit.

The article doesn’t say if it’s been assigned a label or a name yet, they’re probably waiting until it can be seen in 2007. They need to give this planet a cool name, not just some lame P4X-639 type label. They’ve finally go around to naming the not-at-planet-really planet beyond Pluto too: Eris