New exciting exoplanet found

[toymaker]

New technique has been used to discover a planet.<br />5times the size of the Earth. 20thousand light years away(!).It orbits about 2AU from the Star(If I heard correct) They used some kind of new microlensing and one meter telescope(from what I heard).<br />http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsmedia/planet06/index.jsp<br /> http://www.vodium.com/MediapodLibrary/index.asp?library=pn100258_newearths&SessionArgs=0A1U0100000100000101

 

[Philotas]

20 000 lightyears away... That gotta be the planet farthest away so far discovered. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[dgm1]

Discover mag onlline has an article about building a giant telescope for this sort of observation. I think it will be made of seven mirrors and total over 27 meters in diameter. It is scheduled for completion in 2017. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[dragon04]

I may have missed it during the briefing (the downside of watching at work), but was the type of star this planet circles stated?<br /><br />I saw a graphic that estimated the surface temperature of the world at something like 70K, which seemed a little chilly for 2AU.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[toymaker]

The star is a Red dwarf.

 

[telfrow]

<b>Icy exoplanet brings astronomers closer to home</b><br /><br /><i>Using a relatively new planet-hunting technique that can spot worlds one-tenth the mass of our own, researchers have discovered a potentially rocky, icy body that may be the smallest planet yet found orbiting a star outside our solar system. The discovery suggests the technique, gravitational microlensing, may be an exceptional technology for finding distant planets with traits that could support life. <br /><br />Using a network of telescopes scattered across the globe, including the Danish 1.54m telescope at ESO La Silla (Chile), astronomers discovered a new extrasolar planet significantly more Earth-like than any other planet found so far. The planet, which is only about 5 times as massive as the Earth, circles its parent star in about 10 years. It is the least massive exoplanet around an ordinary star detected so far and also the coolest. The planet most certainly has a rocky/icy surface. Its discovery marks a groundbreaking result in the search for planets that support life. <br /><br />The new planet, designated by the unglamorous identifier of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, orbits a red star five times less massive than the Sun and located at a distance of about 20,000 light years, not far from the centre of our Milky Way galaxy. <br /><br />Its relatively cool parent star and large orbit implies that the likely surface temperature of the planet is 220 degrees Centigrade below zero, too cold for liquid water. It is likely to have a thin atmosphere, like the Earth, but its rocky surface is probably deeply buried beneath frozen oceans. It may therefore more closely resemble a more massive version of Pluto, rather than the rocky inner planets like Earth and Venus. <br /><br />"This planet is actually the first and only planet that has been discovered so far that is in agreement with the theories for how our Solar System formed", said Uffe Gråe Jørgensen (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark), member of the te</i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[rmarcotte]

Just a question. Why is it if they are looking for an Earthlike planet (one that will sustain life, will support liquid water), they are looking for one the same size as earth and the same distance from their sun? Why not a monster?

 

[mikeemmert]

Finding what they found is a byproduct of looking for what they were looking for. It demonstrates that at least the technique works. These searches take a long time.

 

[rhodan]

Exciting find, although very far away. I was secretly hoping for something more in our neighbourhood, but still, very exciting. <br /><br />The BBC reports that the surface temperature is minus 220 degrees Celsius. I wonder how they were able to measure that, and I assume that that is somekind of average temperature. Could it be nearer to zero near the equator on the day side?<br /><br />*edit* OK, I missed it was orbiting a Red Dwarf and 2.5 times as far out as Earth is to the Sun.

 

[toymaker]

From what I know the finding was confirmed by several observations made from independent observatories during the period of the lensing.

 

[toymaker]

I think its a guess simply by calculating the distance from the star.

 

[meteo]

That temperature is probably the effective temperature, the temperature the planet would have if it were a black body with no atmosphere. Its just a ballpark, and in some cases where the atmosphere has a large effect on temperature like Venus it can be way off. Mars is off by 5K, Earth's is off 35K, Venus is of by over 400K. So as long as this exoplanet doesn't have much of an atmosphere (likely I'm guessing )effective temperature is probably pretty close.<br /><br />I'm going to guess the first earth-like planet isn't far off, I'll bet it's found within the next 5 years.

 

[chew_on_this]

*psst* Steve's the resident crotchety ole' fart. Nothing is science unless it's confirmed - except of course unconfirmable astronomical phenomena. That's ok sometimes. We humour him.

 

[mlorrey]

Well, one thing to keep in mind is that astronomers in another star system viewing our sun being microlensed by Earth would actually see the frequency of microlensing as indicative of the combined mass of Earth and the Moon. Likewise, this discovered "planet" could also be a combination system of a large terrestrial planet and a moon more in line with an Earth-normal mass. Also note that there could be planets closer to the star that are on different orbital inclinations. Looking at this star with other techniques could tease out more data.

 

[SpaceKiwi]

This discovery featured on the national news here last night, due to two of the team involved being Kiwi's.<br /><br />If you would like to view the item, go here. It is in the 'ONE News' section of the video archive, and entitled 'Kiwis help discover new planet (1:38)'. It's currently fourth item from the top, but will probably slide down as new video items are added. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>