Astronomy student searches for giant rings with pictures from 1890
(PHYSorg.com Space & Earth)

Meticulous analysis of hundreds of photographic plates from the star J1407 between 1890 and 2007 show no stellar eclipses. Robin Mentel, a Master`s student at Leiden University, could not detect eclipses of the star J1407 by a planet hypothesized to have giant rings, called J1407b. However, an eclipse may have been missed since the measurement series contains gaps. Mentel`s research has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.