Astronomers find 'home from home' - 90 light years away!

spaceref.com ^ | 3 Jul 03 | staff

[AdmSmith]

That is very close, but take the lap years into consideration then the length of the year is 365.242198 days and not 365.

An approximate calculation is here
http://www.jimloy.com/astro/year.htm

[longshadow]

Are they implying that earth like planets may also be orbiting this star?

They're suggesting that earth-like planets COULD exist in this system, not that they DO exist.

The point being that solar systems with Jupiter-like planets in highly elliptical orbits (which is typically what we find when we DO find an extra-solar planet, because they are easier to find) would cause unfavorable gravitational pertabations on any Earth-like planet in an Earth-like orbit, resulting in the earth-like planet being flung out into space in a relatively short period of time.

So, the system thay have found, with a Jupiter-like planet in a nearly circular orbit at a distance similar to Jupiter, is Earth-like planet compatible; all the others that have been discovered to date have not been compatible.

[AdmSmith]

Sorry lap =>leap ;-)

[Aric2000]

I'll let Junior and Patrick ping the rest.

Pretty cool stuff, thanks Rightwhale!!

[LibWhacker]

Can't wait for VLT to become fully operational. I believe it'll be able to image earth-sized planets out to 50ly or so. Too bad Europeans are running the show.

[rockfish59]

PLAN 90 FROM OUTER SPACE

[js1138]

I don't know how long a light year is, but the Millenium Falcon made the kessle run in under 5 parsecs. ;^)

[gitmo]

Reckon they have liberals there?

[RightWhale]

Reckon they have liberals there?

Just microbes and nanobes.

[azcap]

Why wait to find a planet - let's pack up the liberals now and get them on their way. Better yet perhaps we could just get them all to cram in to a VW bus and send it down the Santa Monica pier.

[PatrickHenry]

Planets everywhere! PING. [This ping list is for the evolution side of evolution threads, and sometimes for other science topics. FReepmail me to be added or dropped.]

[Sam Cree]

No, that's a good idea, all the utopia lovers can go set one up.

[colorado tanker]

Hmmm. They may have found the Dagobah System.

[js1138]

I really want to say something about wildly eliptical orbits. My tongue is all bloody from biting it.

[longshadow]

I really want to say something about wildly eliptical orbits. My tongue is all bloody from biting it.

Me, too!

;-)

[clamper1797]

90 LY at warp 8 is only 32 days travel time each way

Unless there is a nearby worm hole. Then the trip would be less time consuming. Of course those who are on a ship traveling over the speed of light may not experience the same passing of time as those back on Earth ... but that's another story

[clamper1797]

Reckon they have liberals there?

I heard they left

[whattajoke]

yeah... you know, I agree with that thread earlier getting pulled. I tried catching up with it this morning and just got sick of the nonsense.

I really hope the mods spend the time to see who it was (again) who destroyed what was a decent thread. In fact, I think it was you who posted late y'day afternoon about how polite it was due to the absence of a couple people. once those 2 or 3 showed up, the thread went Ape, then, when it was Already Losing Steam, it got very gor-y.

I'm now convinced those certain unnamed few do that to those threads on purpose. Why? Honestly, I don't know. It serves no purpose at all. Then again, the constant Hitler, Stalin, Nazis, Satan, etc garbage is inhumanly annoying as well.

The part that pissed me off was that I had pinned a creationist to the wall with his minifig experiment and never got a reply.

[Cacique]

btt

[MonroeDNA]

Very cool thread.

How rare are circular orbits, anyway?