Posted on 11/16/2010 9:48:04 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
Astronomers hunting for Earth-like alien worlds could improve their odds by zeroing in on planets that look blue from afar, just like Earth, a new study suggests.
Researchers have devised a simple way to distinguish between the planets of our solar system based on color information alone. Earth in particular stands out clearly among the other planets from space, researchers said, appearing much bluer than Mars, Venus, Mercury and the gas giants. [Diagram of planet colors.]
The finding could aid the search for life beyond Earth, helping astronomers focus their attentions on the worlds most likely to harbor life, researchers said.
"Eventually, as telescopes get bigger, there will be the light-gathering power to look at the colors of planets around other stars," said study leader Lucy McFadden of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Their colors will tell us which ones to study in more detail."
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
They needed a study to figure this one out?
No wonder the US is lagging the world in science.
Have no fear! Obama has NASA reaching out to the Muslim world...
NASA Scientist: "So, where do you calculate we should send this probe to increase our chances of finding a planet like our own?"Muslim: "Just shoot the thing. If it finds your desired planet, it's Allah's will..."
NASA Scientist: "...and, if it blows up in space?"
Muslim: "That's also Allah's will. You see how easy it is, INFIDEL???"
dragnet2’s use of “Approximately” is a valid point.
The fellow I was initally responding to was off by 1000X - 3 orders of magnitude.
Just getting that corrected was all I was shooting for. To give him a better - more accurate - feel for what we were dealing with. Since he was so far off, I figured more precision than that would have been showing off a bit.
And telling him the value of c is 186,282.397051221 miles per second would have been downright smart-alecky, IMHO.
AND of course, the EXACT measurement is NOT in mph.
The speed of light is defined as precisely 299,792,458 meter per second.
Why thank you.
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