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Astronomers discover clutch of 'super-Earths'
1 hour, 20 minutes ago
NANTES, France (AFP) - European scientists on Monday said they had located five 'super-Earths', each of them between four and 30 times bigger than our planet, in a trio of distant solar systems.
The discovery suggests that at least one third of stars similar to our own Sun host these difficult-to-detect celestial bodies, multiplying previous estimates by five.
It also brings astronomers closer to finding planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets, that could potentially duplicate the conditions that gave rise to life on Earth.
"In a year or two, it is likely that we will find habitable planets circling small stars" such as the Sun, said Setphane Udry, a researcher at Switzerland's Geneva Observatory and a member of the team that made the discovery.
Three of the five 'super-Earths' -- so-called because they are several times the mass of our own planet -- orbit a star known as HD 40307 some 42 lights away, the scientists reported.
One light-year is roughly equivalent to 9.5 trillion kilometres (6 trillion miles).
They have 4.2, 6.7, and 9.4 times the mass of the Earth, and orbit their sun in periods of 4.3, 9.6, and 20.4 days, respectively.
The rapid orbits make the super-Earths easier to detect -- but it also means that they are probably gaseous balls of fire inhospitable to life as we know it.
The first exoplanet was detected in 1995, and less than 280 had been catalogued before today's findings, unveiled at an astronomy conference in Nantes, France.
But a new generation of powerful instruments is almost certain to expand the list rapidly, say scientists.
The recent batch of exoplanets were all spotted with the High-Accuracy Radial-Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), a 3.6-metre telescope and spectograph perched atop La Scilla mountain at the southern edge of Chile's Atacama Desert.
HARPS, sometimes called the "planet hunter", has uncovered 45 super-Earths since it began operation in 2004.
"Clearly these planets are only the tip of the iceberg," says Mayor. "The analysis of all the stars studied with HARPS shows that about one third of solar-like stars have either super-Earth or Neptune-like planets with orbital periods shorter than 50 days."
Earth orbits the Sun once every 365 days.
Distant planets, even big ones, are too small to be directly observed, and can only be detected by measuring their impact on the movement of the stars they orbit.
"The mass of the smallest planets is 100,000 times smaller than that of the star, and only the high sensitivity of HARPS made it possible to detect them," says co-author Francois Bouchy, from the Astrophysics Ins ute of Paris.
All of the exoplanets unveiled Monday have masses four to 30 times greater than Earth's, and orbits at least seven times shorter. The further from the star, the harder they are to observe.
At the same conference, astronomers announced the discovery of two other planetary systems, also with the HARPS spectrograph.
In one, a super-Earth orbits the star HD 181433 every 9.5 days. The same star also hosts a huge, Jupiter-like planet that circles every three years.
The second system contains a fiery planet 22 times the size of Earth that cir navigates its sun every four days, and a Saturn-like sphere with a three-year orbit.
"It is probable that there are many other planets present -- not only super-Earths, but Earth like-planets that we cannot yet detect," said Stephane Udry, also a researcher at the Geneva Observatory.
Planets are formed from a disc of gas and dusty debris left over from the creation of a star. Just how long this process takes is still a matter of debate.
Earth is believed to be about 4.5 billion years old, and the Sun about 100 million years older.
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Won't be long before Merica has to liberate other planets.
I hope they have oil.
Planning an invasion, are we?
On a serious note, to talk about planets on different solar systems is to talk about something the human race is probably never going to see. There are so many obstacles to space travel of that magnitude, that theoretically it would take a ship of unimaginable proportions and several generations to be able to reach those solar systems. Pipe dreams. Lets take care of the earth we have, 'cause its the only one we'll ever get to see.
I don't know why but when I first read this I thought that said Mencia.
And I thought "Did he steal all the jokes here?"
If we do migrate to other planets us non richers wont be able to go.
it! stowaway!!If we do migrate to other planets us non richers wont be able to go
It is logical that other life forms exist in the universe.
we CAN HIDE in the Horse area!! After all why leave the horses, the alien message boards need to be able to see them being cute and having a water fight.
I call dibs on the they leave behind...If we do migrate to other planets us non richers wont be able to go
I wants me a nice yacht to live on.
What if they keep their for when they come back to visit?
What if they take their with them
The richers can leave. It'll take em at least 10,000 years to get where they're going, with current technology. (I just took a stab at it -- I don't have a clue how many years it would take.) And the odds that this alleged M-class planet actually (a) has life, (b) has some form of civilization, (c) isn't either still in its "primordial soup" stage or extinct by 3 billion years, or (d) won't vaporize us and take over our planet if we do make contact ... are rather slim.
And if they're there, how come we haven't heard from them? Can't they send a signal? They're probably not even worth conquering.
Until we know how to program this into an FTL Drive this knowledge is mostly useless.
It's only a matter of time. I doubt Earth mankind will still be around though.
You can't make posts like this under any type of authority. Its pretty much impossible to be able say what the Human Race will be doing in 50 years much less EVER.
I'd call you a nerd but the fact that I know the reference makes me a nerd too.
The rest of your post is rubbish though. Just like I said with Manu, you guys are thinking in our current paradigm and trying to figure out how things would work in an entirely different one. Doesn't work that way.
Why does everyone think that if there is life on another planet they will be way more advance than us. I think there is life somewhere out there not necessarily in human form but something small.
they could come and invade us, there is nothing left on earth, we basically used much up of everything of the earths natural resources in the last 100 years....yeh thats right all it took was 100yrs.
Nothing left on Earth?
Are you an idiot?
You give us too much credit. We have done a lot of damage, but are a looong way from "using up" the planet.
Glad you got the reference. Yes, you are a dork.
I'd call you a nerd but the fact that I know the reference makes me a nerd too.
The rest of your post is rubbish though. Just like I said with Manu, you guys are thinking in our current paradigm and trying to figure out how things would work in an entirely different one. Doesn't work that way.
And I am more than open to "new and exciting paradigms." If you have any logical reasons how it would be desirable or even possible to make contact with any civilized race out there, I'm all ears.
I think there is both less advanced and more advanced as well. For all we know they have been watching and observing. We really don't know.
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