Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... Credit Copyright: Ball Aerospace, The Kepler Mission , NASA/Ames Research Center Explanation: Observational astronomy has recently provided evidence of the existence of massive Jupiter-sized planets orbiting distant suns, protoplanetary disks of gas and dust surrounding newly formed stars, and planetary bodies orbiting exotic stellar corpses known as pulsars . ... Are there nearby solar systems with Earth-sized planets as well? ... NASA Official: Jay Norris. ...