Star formation seen by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Spanish astronomers Wednesday announced the discovery of the smallest planet discovered to date outside the solar system, located 30 light years from earth. (AFP/NASA-HO/File)
Posted on 04/10/2008 9:50:52 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
MADRID (AFP) - Spanish astronomers Wednesday announced the discovery of the smallest planet discovered to date outside the solar system, located 30 light years from earth.
The planet, "GJ 436T", was detected through a new technique which "will allow us to discover in less than 10 years the first planet resembling earth in terms of mass and orbit," said Ignasi Ribas of Spain's CSIC scientific research institute.
It was discovered by a team led by Ribas through its gravitational pull on other planets already discovered around the same star in the constellation of Leo.
"GJ 436T" has a mass five times the size of Earth, which makes it the smallest extrasolar planet among the roughly 300 identified so far, Ribas said in announcing the discovery.
He said the new planet is uninhabitable due to the distance that separates it from its star, which is far less than that between the earth and the sun.
To sustain life, a planet must have a mass similar to that of earth, liquid water on its surface, an atmosphere and a similar orbital distance from its star as that of the earth from the sun.
Initial calculations by the team indicated that "GJ 436T" rotates in 4.2 earth days and orbits its star every 5.2 days.
Star formation seen by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Spanish astronomers Wednesday announced the discovery of the smallest planet discovered to date outside the solar system, located 30 light years from earth. (AFP/NASA-HO/File)
bump
MAN! That's one fast year. Imagine having to file income tax reports every 6 days! And aging every 6 days, too! Of course, I guess you could live for a coupla' hundred years . . . .
 |
||
| · join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · | ||
Something seems fishy to me in these “radial-velocity” method calculations. The fact that we’re seeing so many planets that orbit this quickly, it just seems strange. My common sense is tingling.
I’d like to see what data the calculations are based on, and try them for myself.
What I personally was getting at was the fact that these orbital velocities seem EXCEEDINGLY high. To the point where these planets would be orbiting in the photospheres of their parent stars. I think the data needs to be refined. That was my only comment.
:’) These may not be all that common, but they’re the easiest to detect.
Astronomers Find System With Five Planets
Yahoo! News (Reuters) | 11/6/2007 | Maggie Fox
Posted on 11/06/2007 2:50:18 PM PST by Pyro7480
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1921914/posts
[snip] The inner four planets of 55 Cancri are all closer to the star than Earth is to the sun. The closest, about the mass of Uranus, zips around the star in just under three days at a distance of 3.5 million miles. [end]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1646385/posts?page=79#79
I don’t like when astronomers say “A planet must have this, and it must be this size, and this distance away from its sun.”
Life can come in ANY form.
“How this can be??? There is nothing in the bible about the other planets??”
Glogtron said it, I believe it, that settles it.
There ain’t no such thing as Earthlings.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
