reltes Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Smallest 'Earth-like' planet seen By Pallab Ghosh BBC science correspondent in Stockholm, Sweden Scientists are on the lookout for Earth-like planets European scientists have discovered what they describe as the smallest Earth-like planet orbiting a star outside our Solar System. The planet is 14 times the size of Earth - not so large that it qualifies as a gas giant - and is close enough to the star that it is unlikely to be icy. Dr Nuno Santos, of the University of Lisbon, said the new planet could be thought of as "super-Earth-like". He was speaking at the EuroScience Open Forum in Stockholm, Sweden. Dr Santos claimed the discovery set a new record for the smallest planet discovered around a solar type star, "further extending European Leadership in the field". The discovery was made using the highly sensitive Harps spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory's 3.6m telescope at La Silla. The planet was found to be orbiting the star mu Arae in the southern constellation of Altar. It is the second planet discovered round the star and completes a full revolution in 9.5 days. Mu Arae was already known to harbour a Jupiter-sized planet with a 650-day orbital period. Previous observations hinted that the giant planet may have a smaller companion much further away. According to Francois Bouchy, of the Marseille Astrophysics Laboratory, "not only did the Harps measurements confirm what we previously believed to know about this star, but they also showed that an additional planet on a short orbit was present". This makes mu Arae a very exciting new planetary system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomie Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Does this mean there could be life on that planet? Coolz0rz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynk Former Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 One thing they have to take into account is while those planets may look earth-like it could be for very different reasons to why earth looks like the way it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountainforest Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 What's so special about it. There's life on Mars to isn't there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alegis Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Well before that planet the 2 most earth like planets were Europa and Mars i think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZBomber Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Originally posted by Alegis Well before that planet the 2 most earth like planets were Europa and Mars i think. Europe is a planet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alegis Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 It's one of Jupiter's moons. Discovered somewhere in the 17th century, 1610 i think by Marius & Galilei and *inset more information you don't care about* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountainforest Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Originally posted by Alegis Well before that planet the 2 most earth like planets were Europa and Mars i think. Europa is a sattalite to be precise, and I think those tho are still the most earth like planets around. There are masses of earth like planets, but they are just to small to see from earth. Europa is an ice planet, and scientists hope there will be water under the ice, where live can exist. They've planned a drill mission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 THere is life on the sun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermie Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Originally posted by Mountainforest What's so special about it. There's life on Mars to isn't there? Only spiders. [edit] 666 posts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountainforest Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Originally posted by Herminator Only spiders. [edit] 666 posts! ah, now I remember Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Are there really spiders on mars? That means that in 7056 years there are humans on mars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountainforest Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Originally posted by DogGy Are there really spiders on mars? That means that in 7056 years there are humans on mars It will only be 20 years or so if Bush gets what he wants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revlt Coranier Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 as soon as i turn 16, im buying a car and driving to mu Arae (or however you spell it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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