More Saturnian Moons and a Very Nearby Star
The ESO-EPR Department.
Based on observations made with telescopes at ESO (including the VLT) and elsewhere, the group of astronomers that recently announced the discovery of four new moons of Saturn (see ESO Press Photos 29a-c/00), has now found two more, designated S/2000 S 5 and S/2000 S 6. They both move in "irregular" orbits around the giant planet.
Another international team of astronomers, by means of observations within the DENIS programme at the ESO 1-m telescope at La Silla and the 10-m Keck I telescope on Hawaii, has discovered a faint, nearby star, only 13 light-years distant from the Solar System. It is of low mass, probably a Brown Dwarf.
News about observations with ESO telescopes are published at irregular intervals at:
http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/esoobsnews/
The current page includes weblinks to sources of information about the above mentioned discoveries.
As before, information from the VLT is published at a special "VLT Information" site: