NASA craft finds new worlds

[Little Wolf]

January 06, 2010

 A SPACE telescope that hunts Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars has scored its first success, with the discovery of five new worlds beyond the solar system.

The planets detected by the Kepler spacecraft are much larger than Earth, similar in size to Jupiter and Neptune, and as all lie very close to their parent stars are far too hot to harbour life. The find, however, marks an important advance in the search for small rocky worlds like our own.

Kepler does have the sensitivity to find Earth-size planets, said William Borucki, of NASA's Ames Research Centre in California, who leads the mission team. "These observations contribute to our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve," he said. "The discoveries also show that our science instrument is working well."

Jon Morse, of the astrophysics division at NASA, said: "It's gratifying to see the first Kepler discoveries rolling off the assembly line. We expected Jupiter-size planets in short orbits to be the first planets Kepler could detect. It's a matter of time before observations lead to smaller planets with longer-period orbits, coming closer to the discovery of the first Earth analogue."

The results, from data gathered in Kepler's first six weeks of operations, bode well for its galactic census of Earth-like planets in the Milky Way. Over three years, Kepler will inspect 156,000 stars for evidence of rocky planets too small to be detected by ground-based observatories.

Astronomers expect it to find hundreds, of which 50 may be orbiting where conditions are neither too hot nor too cold for life.

The mission should answer questions bearing on whether humanity is alone in the universe. If habitable Earth-like planets are common, it would suggest that life is highly likely to have evolved elsewhere.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/nasa-craft-finds-new-worlds/story-e6frg6so-1225816380166

[Starlight]

Highly facinating!

[X]

This was the topic of the day on the ABC Science Show (noon Saturdays in Vic) a couple of weeks back.  The podcast will still be available on their .net/RN website - I think it was Moore interviewed.  He was actually conservative in relation to the possibility of finding a rocky planet like ours within the suitable range from its Sun.  He also noted that our Earth was on the cold edge of the suitable zone for sustaining life (explains elements of ice age perhaps).  How fragile our planet actually is. I have been a follower of climate science since 1969 when in grade 6 at Primary school we learnt of the greenhouse effect.  I have followed the debate since. A rock that was only "dry" at low tide that I used to fish from at Airey's Inlet as a boy is now always under water.  Both the science and my life experience tells me there is a problem.  Are there any climate change skeptics within the forum who would like to explore why we see things differently? Start a thread.

KIndly, X