5 more planets... total 139

[redracer02]

http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/news/5NewPlanets.html<br /><br /><font color="yellow">The new planets are:<br /><br /> * HD 183263 b, which has a minimum mass more than three times that of Jupiter and takes 634 days to complete an orbit;<br /> * HD 117207 B, which has a minimum mass about twice that of Jupiter and takes 2,627 days to complete an orbit;<br /> * HD 188015 b, which has a minimum mass only slightly greater than Jupiter, is located at a similar distance from its star as the Earth is from the Sun, and takes 456 days to complete an orbit;<br /> * HD 45350 b, which is slightly smaller in mass than Jupiter, and takes 891 days to complete an orbit; and<br /> * HD 99492 b, which has a relatively low minimum of mass, about 36 times that of Earth and takes 17 days to compete an orbit. </font>/safety_wrapper>

 

[astrophoto]

Didn't they directly measure the mass of an object recently that turned out to be 2x the mass they originally inferred using the above methods? Thought I read that somewhere in the last week. <br /><br />Link: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/heavy_objects_050119.html<br /><br />(editted to add link and correct 2x size)

 

[toymaker]

HD 188015 b ? <br />It is withing a habitable zone around its star :<br />http://www.extrasolar.net/planettour.asp?StarCatId=&PlanetId=282<br /><br />As is HD 183263.<br /><br /><br />Very exciting, I can't wait for the new generation of telescopes that will give us more data...

 

[fear]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Planet Type: Water Giant <p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />It's made out of water??? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[thalion]

Re astrophoto:<br />I think that article refers more to brown dwarfs than the currently-known exoplanets. IIRC, most of the brown dwarfs and free-floating planets we've found have been found by direct imaging, while pretty much all of the exoplanets have been found by indirect methods. <br /><br />Also, the impression I'm getting is that that webmaster refers to any gas giant in the habitable zone of its parent star as a "water giant." That's just his term.

 

[fear]

That's an awsome website. It says there was an unconfirmed sighting of an earth sized planet 7830000000 light years away! I never heard about that at all. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[robnissen]

An earth sized planet spotted 7.8 BILLION light years away. I don't think so, its hard enough to see galaxies that far away.

 

[astrophoto]

That website does go so far as to explicitely state:<br /><br />"Planet Appearance: White Water Ice Clouds"<br /><br />That's quite a property to 'infer'!!

 

[5stone10]

That is a cool website - but I think that earth-size planet was spotted briefly through gravitational lensing. So there's no chance of confirming the find.

 

[peacekeeper]

Toymaker, you seem to have linked twice to the same planet.<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>It's made out of water???<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />Quite a few gas giants seem to consist of water. Last time I checked that site, I think I counted 53 water giants out of 134 planets, or something like that.

 

[redracer02]

Here is that other one.<br /><br />http://www.extrasolar.net/planettour.asp?StarCatID=normal&PlanetID=281<br /><br />Pretty cool site. This second planet would have some odd seasons.

 

[nexium]

Hi thalion: How many free floating planets and how many brown dwarfs have we found? Is it classed as a brown dwarf if it has ten to eighty times the mass of Jupiter? Neil

 

[5stone10]

I've got it as ~13 to 75 Jupiter masses.<br /><br />Here's a CalTech site with 'Masses and Orbital Characteristics of Extrasolar Planets' of the 110 that they have listed. None is greater that 17 Jupiter masses />>><br />http://exoplanets.org/massradiiframe.html<br />

 

[thalion]

Here are brown dwarf catalogs:<br /><br />(Rather old data...)<br />http://astro.nmsu.edu/~crom/bdwarfs/catindex.html<br /><br />This list of the 100 nearest stars also has the nearest brown dwarfs, which are recognized by the letters L or T:<br /><br />http://www.chara.gsu.edu/RECONS/TOP100.htm<br /><br />There is only one confirmed free-floating planet for now:<br />http://www.obspm.fr/encycl/cat-freefl.html<br />

 

[astrophoto]

I thought that free-floater was challenged as having belonged to a system in Orion. I could be thinking of a different one though.

 

[5stone10]

As to Gas Giant occurrence - Lick, Keck, et al. planet search [~1000 star survey written up in 2004] provides a statistically [fairly] valid correlation between metallicity and detection of Gas Giants. "Stars with solar metallicity have a planet occurrence rate of 5-10%." >>><br />http://exoplanets.org/science.html

 

[jatslo]

A planet does not require a Sun to warm the environment. The thermal properties of its liquid core could regulate tempatures near its surface as well.<br /><br />Highly volcanic planetary bodies could have warmer atmospheres.<br /><br />What do you Think?<br /><br />--- http://jatslo.com/ : Jatslo

 

[vogon13]

The only sensible investment:<br /><br /><br /><br /> REAL ESTATE! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[redracer02]

I still think the sun would have to do most of the warming. On these 2 that are in the habitable zone the temps are either below freezing on one or just under earth like on the other. A moon around the earth like temp one could possibly be habitable.<br /><br />Man I can't wait for these space telescopes that will hopefully be able to see the planets.

 

[nexium]

My guess is volanoes, guysers and earthquakes are likely to be a major hazzard, if the planet has enough internal heat to warm the surface to 273 k = zero c. The atmosphere is likely to average 90 degrees f = 50 degrees c cooler (than the surface) without a sun. Neil

 

[jatslo]

Hostile environments to what?<br /><br />If were talking basic primordal soup, then microbiology is highly likely.<br /><br />Do these new spaced based telescopes have thermal imaging capabilities? <br /><br />--- http://jatslo.com/ : Jatslo

 

[larper]

These are exciting finds. <br /><br />The program started out finding the real bizarre cases, because those were the quickest to identify themselves. <br /><br />Now they are starting to find Jupiter sized planets in Jupiter sized orbits. This is huge. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Vote </font><font color="#3366ff">Libertarian</font></strong></p> </div>