very nice put up thread with somehow sad ending having all of the planets found being so different than our own system, but, we still cant tell how
life can adapt elsewhere , also we must keep in mind the trillions of billions of combinations there are in the universe.
it is sometime now we heard about Kepler's ongoings...will we have our Earth like planets revealed in 2012?.when Kepler is back?
Strange Alien Planets and the Possibility of Life, page 1
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Topic started on 8-3-2010 @ 11:30 PM by SuperSlovak
Among the more than 400 planets found beyond our solar system, there are volcanic Super Earths, gas giants that dwarf Jupiter, and worlds with
multiple sunsets. Here are some of the strangest alien planets.
51 Pegasi b was the first planet discovered in orbit around a normal star other than our Sun. It was found in 1995. The discovery was made with the radial velocity method at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence, using the ELODIE spectrograph.
The reigning champ of most Earth-sized planets yet is a world called Gliese 581 e, which circles a star that has four planets total. It is called the smallest because of its mass, which is just 1.9 times the mass of Earth, making it the lightest known alien planet to date. The other planets range in mass from 5 to 16 times the mass of Earth.
The largest exoplanet ever discovered is also one of the strangest and theoretically should not even exist, scientists say. Dubbed TrES-4, the planet is about 1.7 times the size of Jupiter and belongs to a small subclass of so-called puffy planets that have extremely low densities. The planet is located about 1,400 light years away from Earth and zips around its parent star in only three and a half days.
Epsilion Eridani b orbits an orange Sun-like star only 10.5 light years away from Earth. It is so close to us telescopes might soon be able to photograph it. It orbits too far away from its star to support liquid water or life as we know it, but scientists predict there are other stars in the system that might be good candidates for alien life.
This planet, CoRot 7 b, was the first confirmed rocky world outside our solar system, but it doesn't look like a particularly pleasant place to live. It is tidally locked to its parent star, and sees hellish 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 degrees Celsius). It may also rain rocks and be the core of a vaporized gas giant.
Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine in Star Wars had two suns, but that's paltry compared to a Jupiter-like planet 149 light-years from Earth. This planet has three suns, with the main star similar in mass to our own sun. The triple-star system is known as HD 188753. Like Tatooine, the planet there is likely pretty hot. It orbits very close to the main star, completing one orbit every 3.5 days.
The youngest exoplanet yet discovered is less than 1 million years old and orbits Coku Tau 4, a star 420 light-years away. Astronomers inferred the planet's presence from an enormous hole in the dusty disk that girdles the star. The hole is 10 times the size of Earth's orbit around the Sun and probably caused by the planet clearing a space in the dust as it orbits the star.
The oldest known planet is a primeval world 12.7 billion years old that formed more than 8 billion years before Earth and only 2 billion years after the Big Bang. The discovery suggested planets are very common in the universe and raised the prospect that life began far sooner than most scientists ever imagined.
Astronomers are finding many worlds now in a category of worlds called Super-Earths, which are between 2 and 10 times the mass of our own Earth. A world called HD156668b is the second smallest after Gliese 581 e. Some scientists think such worlds could be more susceptible to forming the conditions for life because their cores are hot and are conducive to volcanism and plate tectonics.
A planet called WASP-12b is the hottest planet ever discovered (about 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2,200 degrees Celsius), and orbits its star closer than any other known world. It orbits its star once every Earth day at a distance of about 2 million miles (3.4 million km). WASP-12b is a gaseous planet, about 1.5 times the mass of Jupiter, and almost twice the size. It is 870 light-years from Earth.
With a surface temperature of -364 degrees Fahrenheit (-220 degrees Celsius), the extrasolar planet known as OGLE-2005-BLG-390L b is likely the coldest alien world. It is about 5.5 times as massive as Earth and thought to be rocky. It orbits a red dwarf star about 28,000 light-years away, making it the most distant exoplanet currently known.
When astronomers observed WASP-18b, they may have seen it in the cosmic moment before its death. This planet whips around its star in less than one Earth day. Scientists think that this speed coupled with the planet's heft yields strong gravitational tugs that can alter the planets orbit. If the planet orbits faster than its star spins, it should gradually be moving inward towards its sun, and its doom.
Astronomers have been able to detect the atmospheres around several exoplanets, including HD 189733b, one of the first alien words to have its atmosphere sniffed to determine its composition. Glowing methane, which can be produced naturally or possibly signal a biological byproduct, has been detected on the planet.
The extrasolar planet GJ 1214b is a rocky planet rich in water that sits about 40 light-years away. It orbits a red dwarf star. It is the only known Super-Earth exoplanet, worlds that have masses between Earth and Neptune, with a confirmed atmosphere. The planet is about three times the size of Earth and about 6.5 times as massive. Researchers think it is likely a water world with a solid center.
SWEEPS-10 orbits its parent star from a distance of only 740,000 miles, so close that one year on the planet happens every 10 hours. The exoplanet belongs to a new class of zippy exoplanets called ultra short period planets, which have orbits of less than a day.
Most planets orbit in a plane that corresponds to their parent star's equator. But XO-3b orbits with a crazy tilt of 37 degrees from its star's equator. The only other known example of such an oddly angled orbit was Pluto, until its demotion to dwarf planet status. There is, however, a planet known to orbit backwards around its parent star.
While Neptune has a diameter 3.8 times that of Earth and a mass 17 times Earth's, this super neptune world (named HAT-P-11b) is 4.7 times the size of Earth and has 25 Earth masses. The newfound world orbits very close to its star, revolving once every 4.88 days. As a result, it is baked to a temperature of around 1100 degrees F. The star itself is about three-fourths the size of our Sun and somewhat cooler.
A planet lighter than a ball of cork is one of the puffiest alien planets known to date. Called HAT-P-1, the planet is about half as massive as Jupiter but about 1.76 times wider-or 24 percent larger than predicted by theory. It could float in water, if there was a tub large enough to hold it.
One of the several planets within the Gliese 581 star system, called Gliese 581 d, may be one of the most habitable alien worlds known. Its orbit is at just the right distance for water to potentially exist on the surface. Water is a key ingredient for life as we know it. Gliese 581 is a red dwarf star 20.5 light-years from Earth. It is about 8 times the mass of Earth, and located in an orbit just right for liquid water.
One of the densest exoplanets to date is a world known as COROT-exo-3b. It is about the size of Jupiter, but 20 times that planet's mass, making it about twice as dense as lead. Scientists have not ruled out that the COROT-exo-3b may be a brown dwarf, or failed star.
Space.com should take all the credit for this but I thought it would be interesting to make it into a thread and see what you guys think... some of these planets definatly look like they could support life... others, not so much.
Still, the possibility for life is there and should never be overlooked.
space.com
51 Pegasi b was the first planet discovered in orbit around a normal star other than our Sun. It was found in 1995. The discovery was made with the radial velocity method at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence, using the ELODIE spectrograph.
The reigning champ of most Earth-sized planets yet is a world called Gliese 581 e, which circles a star that has four planets total. It is called the smallest because of its mass, which is just 1.9 times the mass of Earth, making it the lightest known alien planet to date. The other planets range in mass from 5 to 16 times the mass of Earth.
The largest exoplanet ever discovered is also one of the strangest and theoretically should not even exist, scientists say. Dubbed TrES-4, the planet is about 1.7 times the size of Jupiter and belongs to a small subclass of so-called puffy planets that have extremely low densities. The planet is located about 1,400 light years away from Earth and zips around its parent star in only three and a half days.
Epsilion Eridani b orbits an orange Sun-like star only 10.5 light years away from Earth. It is so close to us telescopes might soon be able to photograph it. It orbits too far away from its star to support liquid water or life as we know it, but scientists predict there are other stars in the system that might be good candidates for alien life.
This planet, CoRot 7 b, was the first confirmed rocky world outside our solar system, but it doesn't look like a particularly pleasant place to live. It is tidally locked to its parent star, and sees hellish 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 degrees Celsius). It may also rain rocks and be the core of a vaporized gas giant.
Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine in Star Wars had two suns, but that's paltry compared to a Jupiter-like planet 149 light-years from Earth. This planet has three suns, with the main star similar in mass to our own sun. The triple-star system is known as HD 188753. Like Tatooine, the planet there is likely pretty hot. It orbits very close to the main star, completing one orbit every 3.5 days.
The youngest exoplanet yet discovered is less than 1 million years old and orbits Coku Tau 4, a star 420 light-years away. Astronomers inferred the planet's presence from an enormous hole in the dusty disk that girdles the star. The hole is 10 times the size of Earth's orbit around the Sun and probably caused by the planet clearing a space in the dust as it orbits the star.
The oldest known planet is a primeval world 12.7 billion years old that formed more than 8 billion years before Earth and only 2 billion years after the Big Bang. The discovery suggested planets are very common in the universe and raised the prospect that life began far sooner than most scientists ever imagined.
Astronomers are finding many worlds now in a category of worlds called Super-Earths, which are between 2 and 10 times the mass of our own Earth. A world called HD156668b is the second smallest after Gliese 581 e. Some scientists think such worlds could be more susceptible to forming the conditions for life because their cores are hot and are conducive to volcanism and plate tectonics.
A planet called WASP-12b is the hottest planet ever discovered (about 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2,200 degrees Celsius), and orbits its star closer than any other known world. It orbits its star once every Earth day at a distance of about 2 million miles (3.4 million km). WASP-12b is a gaseous planet, about 1.5 times the mass of Jupiter, and almost twice the size. It is 870 light-years from Earth.
With a surface temperature of -364 degrees Fahrenheit (-220 degrees Celsius), the extrasolar planet known as OGLE-2005-BLG-390L b is likely the coldest alien world. It is about 5.5 times as massive as Earth and thought to be rocky. It orbits a red dwarf star about 28,000 light-years away, making it the most distant exoplanet currently known.
When astronomers observed WASP-18b, they may have seen it in the cosmic moment before its death. This planet whips around its star in less than one Earth day. Scientists think that this speed coupled with the planet's heft yields strong gravitational tugs that can alter the planets orbit. If the planet orbits faster than its star spins, it should gradually be moving inward towards its sun, and its doom.
Astronomers have been able to detect the atmospheres around several exoplanets, including HD 189733b, one of the first alien words to have its atmosphere sniffed to determine its composition. Glowing methane, which can be produced naturally or possibly signal a biological byproduct, has been detected on the planet.
The extrasolar planet GJ 1214b is a rocky planet rich in water that sits about 40 light-years away. It orbits a red dwarf star. It is the only known Super-Earth exoplanet, worlds that have masses between Earth and Neptune, with a confirmed atmosphere. The planet is about three times the size of Earth and about 6.5 times as massive. Researchers think it is likely a water world with a solid center.
SWEEPS-10 orbits its parent star from a distance of only 740,000 miles, so close that one year on the planet happens every 10 hours. The exoplanet belongs to a new class of zippy exoplanets called ultra short period planets, which have orbits of less than a day.
Most planets orbit in a plane that corresponds to their parent star's equator. But XO-3b orbits with a crazy tilt of 37 degrees from its star's equator. The only other known example of such an oddly angled orbit was Pluto, until its demotion to dwarf planet status. There is, however, a planet known to orbit backwards around its parent star.
While Neptune has a diameter 3.8 times that of Earth and a mass 17 times Earth's, this super neptune world (named HAT-P-11b) is 4.7 times the size of Earth and has 25 Earth masses. The newfound world orbits very close to its star, revolving once every 4.88 days. As a result, it is baked to a temperature of around 1100 degrees F. The star itself is about three-fourths the size of our Sun and somewhat cooler.
A planet lighter than a ball of cork is one of the puffiest alien planets known to date. Called HAT-P-1, the planet is about half as massive as Jupiter but about 1.76 times wider-or 24 percent larger than predicted by theory. It could float in water, if there was a tub large enough to hold it.
One of the several planets within the Gliese 581 star system, called Gliese 581 d, may be one of the most habitable alien worlds known. Its orbit is at just the right distance for water to potentially exist on the surface. Water is a key ingredient for life as we know it. Gliese 581 is a red dwarf star 20.5 light-years from Earth. It is about 8 times the mass of Earth, and located in an orbit just right for liquid water.
One of the densest exoplanets to date is a world known as COROT-exo-3b. It is about the size of Jupiter, but 20 times that planet's mass, making it about twice as dense as lead. Scientists have not ruled out that the COROT-exo-3b may be a brown dwarf, or failed star.
Space.com should take all the credit for this but I thought it would be interesting to make it into a thread and see what you guys think... some of these planets definatly look like they could support life... others, not so much.
Still, the possibility for life is there and should never be overlooked.
space.com
reply posted on 9-3-2010 @ 02:27 AM by yeti101
reply to post by heineken
on kepler - A further 177 targets have been selected for follow up observations. They expect between 25-60% of these will be planets. Mostly hot jupiters, smaller planets will come later.
on kepler - A further 177 targets have been selected for follow up observations. They expect between 25-60% of these will be planets. Mostly hot jupiters, smaller planets will come later.
reply posted on 9-3-2010 @ 02:50 AM by Magnus47
reply to post by SuperSlovak
Hopefully we'll find our first extrasolar habitable planet within our own lifetimes, maybe even within the next 5 to 10 years. NASA's Kepler Telescope is making observations already about Earth-sized planets, which will take a little longer to analyze than the larger, jupiter-like planets we've been finding so far. But I'm expecting exciting results soon.
Hopefully we'll find our first extrasolar habitable planet within our own lifetimes, maybe even within the next 5 to 10 years. NASA's Kepler Telescope is making observations already about Earth-sized planets, which will take a little longer to analyze than the larger, jupiter-like planets we've been finding so far. But I'm expecting exciting results soon.
reply posted on 9-3-2010 @ 12:36 PM by OrphenFire
Nice thread. I've heard of a lot of these planets before, but not all.
I think a key stage in our development as a species is our ability to colonize other planets, and I believe that stage is right around the corner (within 100 years). If we don't colonize other planets within 100 years, we will be doomed. This beautiful planet we currently inhabit can only support so much of our abuse, and it will cleanse itself eventually. We will either all die, leaving behind an incredibly sad story for some distant beings to discover, or we will start civilization over (for the Xth time). We must colonize other planets before we overrun this one. I think a good place to start is Mars.
Scientists need to focus a lot of time and energy into developing terraforming technology. Sure, developing new energy sources is great, but I personally believe terraforming may be even more important. If we terraformed Mars, we could send 100's of millions of people there to live, and hundreds of billions of plants and animals to support the new human presence. The resource strain on this world would ease, as well as pollution, crime, and a whole array of discontents. I would be on board for the colonization to Mars.
Let's just hope this doesn't happen
I think a key stage in our development as a species is our ability to colonize other planets, and I believe that stage is right around the corner (within 100 years). If we don't colonize other planets within 100 years, we will be doomed. This beautiful planet we currently inhabit can only support so much of our abuse, and it will cleanse itself eventually. We will either all die, leaving behind an incredibly sad story for some distant beings to discover, or we will start civilization over (for the Xth time). We must colonize other planets before we overrun this one. I think a good place to start is Mars.
Scientists need to focus a lot of time and energy into developing terraforming technology. Sure, developing new energy sources is great, but I personally believe terraforming may be even more important. If we terraformed Mars, we could send 100's of millions of people there to live, and hundreds of billions of plants and animals to support the new human presence. The resource strain on this world would ease, as well as pollution, crime, and a whole array of discontents. I would be on board for the colonization to Mars.
Let's just hope this doesn't happen
reply posted on 9-3-2010 @ 12:55 PM by stephanies-chase
reply to post by raynemarina
The universe is so vast there is definitely tons of life out there. But you need to keep an open mind about money. I'm sure there are civilizations with something like it out there. It may not look like ours but there is no way for us to know. We have no idea what lies out there. I do agree that people who think "we" are the only life forms in the universe really have no concept of how miniscule we really are.
The universe is so vast there is definitely tons of life out there. But you need to keep an open mind about money. I'm sure there are civilizations with something like it out there. It may not look like ours but there is no way for us to know. We have no idea what lies out there. I do agree that people who think "we" are the only life forms in the universe really have no concept of how miniscule we really are.
reply posted on 9-3-2010 @ 01:01 PM by Kandinsky
reply to post by SuperSlovak
Firstly....nice OP. Your effort to embed the images is way better than when folk make a comment and post a link. S&F
Gliese 581C was a potential life-harboring planet too. It made the news at the time, but has been relegated since...Gliese 581c
There was a very interesting thread mid-last year when a member used the Betty and Barney Hill 'Star Map' to identify what planets and stars it might refer to. IIRC the Gliese red dwarf system was one he targeted. I'll link it if I can find it...
EDIT.....The Betty Hill Starmap - New insight
Hell of a thread and some good ATS research...check it out and FLAG
[edit on 9-3-2010 by Kandinsky]
The reigning champ of most Earth-sized planets yet is a world called Gliese 581 e, which circles a star that has four planets total. It is called the smallest because of its mass, which is just 1.9 times the mass of Earth, making it the lightest known alien planet to date.
Firstly....nice OP. Your effort to embed the images is way better than when folk make a comment and post a link. S&F
Gliese 581C was a potential life-harboring planet too. It made the news at the time, but has been relegated since...Gliese 581c
There was a very interesting thread mid-last year when a member used the Betty and Barney Hill 'Star Map' to identify what planets and stars it might refer to. IIRC the Gliese red dwarf system was one he targeted. I'll link it if I can find it...
EDIT.....The Betty Hill Starmap - New insight
Hell of a thread and some good ATS research...check it out and FLAG
[edit on 9-3-2010 by Kandinsky]
reply posted on 9-3-2010 @ 01:13 PM by Helmkat
reply to post by SuperSlovak
Wonderful idea for a thread.
I remember as a child reading about our own solar system and how it was thought other solar systems would probably mimic our own.
Well that got thrown out the window pretty quickly!
Our galaxy (let alone all the others) is probably teeming with planets and life may be more common then we ever thought. We will probably end up realizing our neighborhood is more like David Brin's uplift scenario then we ever thought.
Lets hope there are not to many "Soro"or "Tandu" close by.
"shudder"
[edit on 9-3-2010 by Helmkat]
Wonderful idea for a thread.
I remember as a child reading about our own solar system and how it was thought other solar systems would probably mimic our own.
Well that got thrown out the window pretty quickly!
Our galaxy (let alone all the others) is probably teeming with planets and life may be more common then we ever thought. We will probably end up realizing our neighborhood is more like David Brin's uplift scenario then we ever thought.
Lets hope there are not to many "Soro"or "Tandu" close by.
"shudder"
[edit on 9-3-2010 by Helmkat]
reply posted on 9-3-2010 @ 01:19 PM by havok
reply to post by SuperSlovak
Awesome thread and supreme presentation!
*S&F*
Images are good representations of these planets.
I imagine that even if there was life, or is life, by the time the light gets to this planet to be viewed it has already aged exponentionally.
Think of the things we missed with just the lapse in light years.
Awesome thread and supreme presentation!
*S&F*
Images are good representations of these planets.
I imagine that even if there was life, or is life, by the time the light gets to this planet to be viewed it has already aged exponentionally.
Think of the things we missed with just the lapse in light years.
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