Tiny Solar Systems can be ubiquitous in the Universe, page 1

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Topic started on 12-1-2012 @ 03:54 AM by Hundroid

It seems that micro solar systems having tiny rocky planets orbiting red dwarfs are quite common in our Universe. A NASA team found the smallest planets ever (three), orbiting a dwarf star:

Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler mission have discovered the three smallest planets yet detected orbiting a star beyond our sun. The planets orbit a single star, called KOI-961, and are 0.78, 0.73 and 0.57 times the radius of Earth. The smallest is about the size of Mars.

This solar system can be compared to Jupiter and its moons and its the tiniest discovered so far

"This is the tiniest solar system found so far," said John Johnson, the principal investigator of the research from NASA's Exoplanet Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "It's actually more similar to Jupiter and its moons in scale than any other planetary system. The discovery is further proof of the diversity of planetary systems in our galaxy."

The three planets are very close to their star, taking less than two days to orbit around it. The KOI-961 star is a red dwarf with a diameter one-sixth that of our sun, making it just 70 percent bigger than Jupiter.

So...everyday we find out new things in space and I believe this is cool. Rocky planets are more than common, differently from what scientists were thinking only few years ago. Thank you Kepler, thank you astronomers.

NASA

reply posted on 12-1-2012 @ 03:58 AM by Hawking

Sort of makes me wonder about massive stars with comparably massive rocky planets orbiting them. And possibly some enormous species of aliens

reply posted on 12-1-2012 @ 04:22 AM by SupersonicSerpent

We are probably a dwarth solar system.earth is tiny.i bet there is also huge planets too.one day we might have a huge alien ship come to our solar system checking our planet out with a microscope.we could be like the size of bacteria to some alien life.

reply posted on 12-1-2012 @ 04:28 AM by Hundroid

reply to post by SupersonicSerpent

We are probably a dwarth solar system.earth is tiny.i bet there is also huge planets too.one day we might have a huge alien ship come to our solar system checking our planet out with a microscope.we could be like the size of bacteria to some alien life.

Well...this is something I always thought since I was a kid of 10! Here on Earth we could be as nanoparticles compared to giant aliens. But normally the bigger is the planet, the smaller are its inhabitants due to stronger gravity which obstacles the growth (at least this is what I understood by reading several articles).

reply posted on 12-1-2012 @ 04:37 AM by SupersonicSerpent

But still look at the size dinosaurs grew compared to the size of us.i assume they would of had the same kind of gravity we have today.

reply posted on 12-1-2012 @ 05:02 AM by Hundroid

reply to post by SupersonicSerpent

Hmmm I don't know if about 66 millions of years ago Earth gravity was the same. Ever heard of the Expando theory? Earth could be expanding according to this theory, America was connected not only to Africa and Europe but also to Asia (Japan, Indonesia) and Australia. If Earth expands, it was smaller before and thus with lower gravity. The "giants" we find in myths and religions could be remnants of such a past (lower gravity, taller people). But this is speculation of course.

reply posted on 12-1-2012 @ 05:06 AM by Hundroid

The Expando model has been discussed also here on ATS:

Above Top Secret

I think it's quite interesting at least.

reply posted on 12-1-2012 @ 08:34 AM by Arbitrageur

Originally posted by Hundroid
So...everyday we find out new things in space and I believe this is cool. Rocky planets are more than common, differently from what scientists were thinking only few years ago.

Source?

I never heard this about scientists not thinking rocky planets were common a few years ago, you sure about that?

You might be thinking they just hadn't found them yet, that doesn't mean they didn't think they existed. Scientists knew they were harder to find, because they're small.

I would have thought finding small rocky planets was entirely expected, since we live on one, and our neighbor Mars is even smaller.

Originally posted by Hundroid
The Expando model has been discussed also here on ATS:

Above Top Secret

I think it's quite interesting at least.

To anybody who doesn't know how GPS works, it might be interesting. For people who know how GPS works (among other things), this video sums up that theory, where you can add an addendum to the "Very interesting" observation:

YouTube Link

We also have precise measurements of the distance of the Earth's surface to the moon's surface, the Earth's density (which would be changing if the Earth was expanding, etc.

reply posted on 12-1-2012 @ 06:50 PM by Hundroid

reply to post by Arbitrageur

where you can add an addendum to the "Very interesting" observation:

I said quite interesting, not very. Your sarcasm sounds bitter, was it a heavy day?

reply posted on 12-1-2012 @ 07:20 PM by Buddha1098

reply to post by Hundroid

Earth had a much higher concentration of oxygen in its atmosphere in the age of dinosaurs. That is why there were giant insects back then. I think this might be a factor in the size of higher animals as well.

reply posted on 12-1-2012 @ 07:27 PM by yourmaker

the solar system design runs macroscopic to microscopic right down to the atom.

a star could be seen as a nucleus

reply posted on 15-1-2012 @ 01:04 AM by Brett