Jul 2, 2003 - A team of European Astronomers announced this week
that they have discovered seven new planets, bringing the total
of extrasolar planets discovered to 115. Six of the planets
circle stars that weren't previously known to contain planets.
All are gas giants, ranging in size from slightly smaller than
Jupiter up to eight times the mass of Jupiter. They were
detected using the radial velocity method, where Astronomers
watch for back and forth movement of a star caused by
interaction with its planet. There are currently 30 teams
searching for planets around other stars.