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.