Rocky Planet

[moyer777]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/09/16/new.rocky.planet/index.html


(CNN) -- Scientists have discovered the first confirmed Earthlike planet outside our solar system, they announced Wednesday.

An artist's impression shows what the planet may look like in close orbit with its sun.
"This is the first confirmed rocky planet in another system," astronomer Artie Hatzes told CNN, contrasting the solid planet with gaseous ones like Jupiter and Saturn.

But "Earthlike" is a relative term.

The planet's composition may be similar to that of Earth, but its environment is more like a vision of hell, the project's lead astronomer said.

It is so close to the star it orbits "that the place may well look like Dante's Inferno, with a probable temperature on its 'day face' above 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius) and minus-328 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 200 degrees Celsius) on its night face," said Didier Queloz of Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, the project leader.

Hatzes, explaining that one side of the body is always facing the star and the other side always faces away, said the side "facing the sun is probably molten. The other side could actually have ice" if there is water on the planet.

"We think it has no atmosphere to redistribute the heat," Hatzes told CNN from Barcelona, Spain, where he is attending the "Pathways Towards Habitable Planets" conferenceThe astronomers were stunned to find a rocky planet so near a star, he said.

"We would have never dreamed you would find a rocky planet so close," he said. "Its year is less than one of our days."

The planet, known as CoRoT-7b, was detected early last year, but it took months of observation to determine that it had a composition roughly similar to Earth's, the European Southern Observatory said in a statement.

Astronomers were able to measure the dimensions of the planet by watching as it passed in front of the star it orbits, then carried out 70 hours of study of the planet's effect on its star to infer its weight.

With that information in hand, they were able to calculate its density -- and were thrilled with what they found, Hatzes said.

"What makes this exciting is you compare the density of this planet to the planets in our solar system, it's only Mercury, Venus and Earth that are similar," Hatzes, of the Thuringer observatory in Germany, told CNN.

They were helped by the fact that CoRoT-7b is relatively close to Earth -- about 500 light years away, in the constellation of Monoceros, the Unicorn.

"It's in our solar neighborhood," Hatzes said. "The thing that made it easier is it's relatively close, so it's relatively bright. If this star was much much farther away, we wouldn't have been able to do these measurements."

At about five times Earth's mass (though not quite twice as large in circumference), it is the smallest planet ever spotted outside our solar system.

It also has the fastest orbit. The planet whizzes around its star more than seven times faster than Earth moves, and is 23 times closer to the star than Mercury is to our sun.

The planet was first detected early in 2008 by the CoRoT satellite, a 30-centimeter space telescope launched by the European Space Agency in December 2006, specifically with the mission of detecting rocky planets outside the solar system.

At least 42 scientists at 17 institutions on three continents worked on the project.

They are publishing their findings in a special issue of the Astronomy and Astrophysics journal on October 22 as "The CoRoT-7 Planetary System: Two Orbiting Super-Earths."

[sheldor]

The planet whizzes around its star more than seven times faster than Earth moves, and is 23 times closer to the star than Mercury is to our sun

THIS is earth like ???  yyyyeaahh...why don't you get back to me on that.

I hope I'm not paying for this research.

[Feathers]

THIS is earth like ???  yyyyeaahh...why don't you get back to me on that.

I suspect it probably is pretty earth-like when you compare it to everything else that's been found!

[Bryancd]

I'ts Mustafar! Where's Vader?!  :starwars:

Well, it may not be a lovely blue ball, but it is the first time they have been able to identify a solid, rocky  planet orbiting another star, so I think it is of great note. Finding smaller, rocky planets is very challenging as opposed to larger gas giants. I applaud their efforts and wish more of my tav revenue went to this kind of exploration instead of the black hole of the Federal govt.  :2cents

[billybob476]

LOL. Who needs a telescope, Bryan discovered a black hole in Washington!

This is really incredible news though. Just remember, don't get too close to the lava or you may end up in an uncomfortable black suit.

[Rico]

Where there is one planet there are many, many more.  It's just a matter of time and technology until we find little Ewoks running around out there!

[billybob476]

Forget Ewoks, I want to find Risa!

[X]

The planet whizzes around its star more than seven times faster than Earth moves, and is 23 times closer to the star than Mercury is to our sun

THIS is earth like ???  yyyyeaahh...why don't you get back to me on that.

I hope I'm not paying for this research.

The short answer is no, you didn't pay a cent for the research, it wasn't discovered by our scientist.

The long answer is yes, it is earth like in composition. That was the qualifier used in the first part of the article.

I personally think it's kind of closed minded to wonder if you are paying for this research when:

a) Something previously unknown about the universe was revealed ( Seems to be a good thing from where I type)
b) The research happening is looking for any other planets out there ( Looks like a success)

So if you were part of the funding, and I'm sure that we're not, why penalize them for actual success in the research they are doing?

That makes even less sense than the confusion about earthlike.

Sorry if this came off wrong, but I have this thing about science and what we don't learn is often just as important as what we do learn. I cringe when people attempt to control the purse strings of science when they don't get exactly what they are looking for.

[Bryancd]

I took Mark's post as a bit tongue in cheek, for what it's worth. And I agree that funding for these kind of human advancements are crucial as opposed to "Cash for Clunkers". :)

[Rico]

Forget Ewoks, I want to find Risa!

I vote for the Orion colonies!  ;)

But seriously, there has been some discussion on other forums I visit lately about NASA and various space programs and their funding.  The bottom line for me always on this is it is well worth the small amount of funding these programs get.  There are tremendous technological advancements that have to be made to do things like send men to the moon or even just in optics & robotics while searching for life in space.  Not to mention just man's thirst for knowledge and reaching beyond his own small planet.  Money very well spent.

[Bryancd]

We have even derived medical advances from space exploration...

[billybob476]

Exactly, a lot of things that seem superfluous result in important advancements. An example is auto racing. F1 racing gave us traction control and anti-lock brakes.

I'm sure space travel has resulted in huge advances in more earth-bound engineering in addition to medical and general biological research.

[Feathers]

Hey, I probably paid for this one since it was a ESA staellite that found the thing.

I'm quite happy with that. :)

[Bryancd]

Exactly, a lot of things that seem superfluous result in important advancements. An example is auto racing. F1 racing gave us traction control and anti-lock brakes.

I love F1, need to listen to Jeff's new podcast. :)

[billybob476]

Exactly, a lot of things that seem superfluous result in important advancements. An example is auto racing. F1 racing gave us traction control and anti-lock brakes.

I love F1, need to listen to Jeff's new podcast. :)

Same here! Glad Montreal is back on the schedule for next year. I LOOOOVE GP weekend.

Thread derailment complete.