New Planets & an Unknown Object Discovered Beyond the Solar System

[n2doc]

"It could happen almost any time now. We now have the technological capability to identify Earth-like planets around the smallest stars."
David Latham -Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

As astronomers become more adept at hunting for, and finding, exoplanets orbiting stars beyond the Solar System, international astronomers have figured out just what we should be looking for using the increasingly sophisticated technologies being developed.

Two exoplanets and an unknown celestial object, findings of the European Space Agency's COROT mission, an important stepping stones in the European effort to find habitable, Earth-like planets around other stars. These discoveries mean that the mission has now found a total of four new exoplanets.
COROT has now been operating for 510 days, and the mission started observations of its sixth star field at the beginning of May this year. During this observation phase, which will last 5 months, the spacecraft will simultaneously observe 12,000 stars.

Future telescopes such as NASA's Kepler, set for launch in 2009, would be able to discover dozens or hundreds of Earth-like worlds. The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM), to be launched early in the next decade, consists of multiple telescopes placed along a 30 foot structure. With an unprecedented resolution approaching the physical limits of optics, the SIM is so sensitive that it almost defies belief: orbiting the earth, it can detect the motion of a lantern being waved by an astronaut on Mars.

more:

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/02/new-planets-an.html

[Ian David]

1. Dyson Sphere!

<snip>

In addition, an oddity dubbed ‘COROT-exo-3b’ has raised particular interest among astronomers. It appears to be something between a brown dwarf, a sub-stellar object without nuclear fusion at its core but with some stellar characteristics, and a planet. Its radius is too small for it to be a super-planet.

If it is a star, it would be among the smallest ever detected. Follow-up observations from the ground have pinned it at 20 Jupiter masses, which makes it twice as dense as the metal Platinum.

“COROT has also detected extremely faint signals that, if confirmed, could indicate the existence of another exoplanet, as small as 1.7 times Earth’s radius.”

More:
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/02/new-planets-an.html


Okay, maybe.

Well, probably not.

But that would be cool.

[Solon]

6. A Dyson Sphere would have a radius of approximately 1 AU, or less when around lesser massive...

stars, but it would be many magnitudes bigger than the star its built around(assuming that its possible to build in the first place). So this object couldn't be a Dyson Sphere, but it could be another type of artificial superstructure, more planet sized, instead.

[FirstLight]

2. ...just like that "planet X" thing!!!.....right?

Or are they just hoping to find another "earthlike" planet in time for us to leave this one when we've made it inhabitable....?

[Orrex]

3. We have to rescue that lantern-waving astronaut at once!

After we do that, we can reflect upon how unbelievable cool this is. Amazing!

[Posteritatis]

4. I wonder if Congress will actually, y'know, fund these things now

They killed the Terrestrial Planet Finder a couple years ago, and I got the impression they'd kneecapped this one so often the engineers took the hint and left. Since Bush paid lip service (and nothing more) to appreciating NASA, I'm kind of worried it'll be the target of retaliation by the new administration and congress.

[n2doc]

5. The stimulus bill is a good start

And I really think Obama is putting science, of all sorts, at the top of his agenda. NASA has its problems, especially with mission cost overruns, but I think a lot of the problem has been a lack of leadership and a sense that the big corporations call the shots with major equipment. Maybe that will change.

There is a new mission to look for planets, just went up. And the JW telescope may do the job too.

[joshcryer]

7. I'm betting 5-10 years for near earth/mars/venus like planet.

15-20 for the near unquestionable discovery of life around another star.