December 27, 2006 8:39 AM PST

Seeking other planets

by Harry Fuller
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Europe on Wednesday morning launched a new space observatory from a rocket base in Kazakhstan.

The COROT satellite was produced by a French-led design and science team. COROT--the acronym for Convection Rotation and Planetary Transits--uses highly precise sensors to note diminshed light emissions when planets pass between the satellite and the star being observed.

Main goal of this satellite: find other rocks in space--that is, other planets around other stars besides our own sun. When they find those other planets, will we also find out if "Britney Spears" is the most-searched term on their Internet?

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