Earth-Like Exoplanet
On December 5, two and a half years after its initial discovery, the NASA’s Kepler Team confirmed the existence of what may prove to be the most earth-like exoplanet yet discovered. Now called Kepler-22b, this planet orbits within the habitable zone of a Sun-like star 600 light years away, and it is only 2.4 times the size of earth, making it the smallest planet ever discovered in another star’s habitable zone! This exoplanet orbits its parent star at a distance of roughly 79 million miles, which given the star’s energy output means that the planet likely has an average surface-temperature of 71°F.
At this stage, however, it is too early to definitively call Kepler-22b an earthlike planet. For example, the eccentricity of its orbit is unknown – meaning that we only know its distance from its parent star at one point in its orbit. We also do not know the planet’s mass or composition which will dramatically affect its habitability.
To find out more,
the Maynard F. Jordan Planetarium offers a show “Strange Planets” about the ongoing search for earthlike exoplanets! Learn how to discover a planet light years away, and learn about some of the downright strange ones we’ve found so far! “Strange Planets” will be showing at the Maynard F. Jordan Planetariu at 7:00 PM on Friday, January 13th and Friday, January 27th.
Active Sun and Active Sky
11.21.2011 - The sun. The blinding source of light in the day that disappears at night. That sun of ours goes through active and inactive phases; much like our planet goes through warming and cooling phases. Well, the sun is currently at the beginning an active period and boy is it giving us a show!
Solar photographers got pictures of one of the largest prominences in years; a wall of plasma rising up from the sun’s surface almost 10 earths long and 5 earths high. There was also a filament stretching for more than a million km along the sun’s surface.
Along with Filaments and prominences, the active sun is the cause of a spectacular view that can be seen from home; the aurora. The more active the sun is, the more it discharged charged particles. Some of these charged particles hit the earth and interact with the magnetic field and atmosphere resulting in the beautiful auroras that can sometimes be seen from Maine.
For more information, visit Universe Today.
Possibility of Methane Life
11.18.2011 - Generally, when the topic of looking for life on other planets comes up in convocation, so does the topic of water. When looking for planets that may be suitable to support life, one of the most important guidelines is that there is water on the planet, and that the water can exist in liquid form. Scientists have come to realize that water in liquid form was crucial in the development of life here on earth, and so wouldn’t any other life forms require the same building blocks?
Recent theory suggests not. What if life didn’t necessarily need liquid water, but rather, just a liquid? More specifically, what if liquid methane was a suitable substitute? Scientists have suggested that life evolving in methane could consume hydrogen, acetylene, and ethane as opposed to the oxygen we breathe, and could exhale methane instead of carbon dioxide.
This situation of decreased hydrogen, acetylene, and ethane in a methane dense environment is actually what astronomers have found on Titan, a moon of Saturn, though there could definitely be more likely explanations for the unbalance of chemicals. Titan is very much like earth with weather, lakes, mountains, and a thick atmosphere, except that it’s all Methane. The methane on that planet actually goes through the same “rain Cycle” that water does on our planet.
It’s pretty amazing to think that life might evolve somewhere else in our own solar system, and under such different circumstances, too! “If we have learned anything, it is how amazingly adaptive and resourceful life can be, perhaps even more than we think.”
For the full article, visit Universe Today
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