astronomers work out how much detail the next generation
of space telescopes could reveal on Earth-like planets
orbiting other stars
Well, try to get some more info before his vacation is over...
Posted on 12/22/2007 3:13:38 PM PST by blam
Alien astronomers could discern Earth's features
14:58 21 December 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Stephen Battersby
Aliens spying on us from another star system might be able to discern continents and oceans on our planet, using technology barely more advanced than our own.
In imaginary form, these inquisitive extraterrestrials have been helping astronomers work out how much detail the next generation of space telescopes could reveal on Earth-like planets orbiting other stars.
Seeing any detail at all is a tough task. Even at the distance of the nearest stars, only a few light years away, terrestrial planets would appear so small that no planned telescope could see any detail directly. Even NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder, a flotilla of large space telescopes that could be launched within a decade, would see Earth as a featureless point.
"In fact, Earth and the Moon would be in the same pixel," says team member Eric Ford of the University of Florida in Gainesville, US.
There is one trick, however, that astronomers might employ. As an alien Earth rotates, sunlight falls on different surface features such as forests, deserts and seas, and the total brightness of the planet should vary. By plotting that fluctuation in brightness over many days, a careful observer could sketch out those surface features.
That is, unless clouds spoil the view. Because clouds reflect so much light, chaotic weather patterns could make the brightness of a planet fluctuate unpredictably, perhaps enough to obscure those more subtle, regular variations due to continents and seas.
To find out, Ford and his colleagues calculated what a distant observer would see of the Earth, using satellite observations of weather around the globe. They discovered that in the long run, cloud cover mimics the pattern of surface features quite closely. Deserts have clear skies,
(Excerpt) Read more at space.newscientist.com ...
Are they kidding? The people from K-PAX come here regular. They say the taste of the produce alone is worth the trip.
And then they go down to visit Hugo Chavez.
Oh.....darn.
Aren’t those the ones who wrote the book “To Serve Man”?
Well, try to get some more info before his vacation is over...
well, I suppose that's true...if there were alien astronomers.
And fish could sing three part harmony...if fish could sing.
I think my family is calling.
/tinfoil hat
HUH?
You mean the cookbook? Yeah probably. Wrote under a pseudonym of Rod Serling as I recall.
Or, they can just go to “Google Earth.”
But, could alien singing fish discern earth scientists?
Nah, they only have dial-up.
So what do you see from up there, Bender? Are Earth girls really easy?
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