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Post by Craig on Dec 16, 2011 20:01:09 GMT -5
A new planet outside Earth's solar system has been identified with many similarities to our own – making it the latest and best potential target for life.
Kepler 22-b, which is about 2.4 times the size of Earth and lies in the "Goldilocks zone", has a relatively comfortable surface temperature of about 22C (72F) and orbits a star very similar to our own.
But while astronomers believe that it "probably" also possesses water and land, earthlings secretly harbouring hopes that such a planet could potentially host new colonies from our own increasingly overpopulated home may be in for a disappointment.
About 600 light-years from Earth, Kepler 22-b is a considerable trek away while experts are not yet sure if it is made mostly of rock, gas or liquid
The discovery was made by Nasa's Kepler planet-hunting telescope. It is the first time Kepler confirmed a planet outside Earth's solar system in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold habitable zone.
Twice before, astronomers have announced planets found in that zone, but neither was as promising. One was disputed; the other is on the hot edge of the zone.
More than 1,000 new planet candidates have been discovered by the Kepler telescope, nearly doubling the previously known count. Ten of the candidates are close to Earth's size while Kepler-22b is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun.
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Post by rocksmarsandstars on Dec 16, 2011 22:23:52 GMT -5
...And Kepler 22-B isn't all. As the name implies, Kepler is a space based telescope which stares at 200,000 or so sun-like stars near the constellation Lyra. If you look on their page, kepler.nasa.gov, you get the lo-down on many exoplanets they're discovering.
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Post by Craig on Dec 17, 2011 14:32:04 GMT -5
Ken, You could probably shed some light on this. If I'm not mistaken, doesn't Kepler have to produce 3 transits in order to confirm an exoplanet? If this is in fact the case, doesn't this mean it would be about 3 years from the start of the mission when we would really start to be able to confirm these Earth-like planets. I was astounded by the latest Kepler News release of 1000 new Candidate exoplanets. This mission is Spectacular, the best is yet to come.
Craig
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Post by mickey on Dec 18, 2011 10:41:19 GMT -5
Yes, it takes 3 transits and I think 22-b's first transit was on day 3 of Kepler's mission. I read that it's transit period is 290 days, so this is one of the first of the habitable zone planets found. SETI has also started working with the Kepler info to confine their searches to some of these planets. But now I've read that most advanced civilization probably would use light to communicate and would make SETI useless. The Kepler link at NASA is updated with all the latest info. kepler.nasa.gov/
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Post by Craig on Dec 18, 2011 15:16:21 GMT -5
Hey Mickey, Your right, SETI is now using a new technology called Astro-Pulse that is checking for quick short bursts of light along with there radio searches.
Craig
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