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Jupiter-Sized Planet Orbits Epsilon Eridani
Phrogman writes: "SpaceRef is the first to report that a Jupiter-sized planet has been discovered orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani which is located about 10.5 light years from Earth. The planet is oribiting the star at roughly 300 million miles - about the same distance as earth's asteroid belt. The discovery was made by astronomers at McDonald Observatory in Texas in collaboration with other astronomers around the world."
From browsing this thread, I have the idea that this discovery of distant planets is being taken as a first-time thing by some people. I thought it imperative to fill that void in the collective knowledge base.
We've found approx. 35 such planets to date: here's one found in Nov 1999, a whole system found in April 1999, one in 1998, and here, and here...
We've found Jupiter-sized planets at Jupiter-like distances, which is neat because it means we could detect our own solar system...
-Jason
If aliens do contact us by radio signals, it will probably translate to "FIRST POST!!!"
Me & my wife are under the paranoid delusion that the Star Trek shows have been getting the Earth's population ready to make a "First Contact" sorta thing. Or maybe I've just been watching to much Star Trek lately. But look when Star Trek first aired. Wasn't that after Roswell. Gotta go, have to find my Haldol. "Honey did I put that on the shelf next to your Lithium?".....
This isn't sig. it's banner for advertising.
I know, they said Jupiter-type, but there is lots of speculation here that there might also be smaller ones.
There won't.
We've got rock planets here in the inner solar-system because our manly yellow star blew off most of the atmosphere of the nearest planets.
Epsilon Eridani is a little pansy orange dwarf that couldn't blow the atmosphere off of this Jupiter-type planet as close as the asteroid belt.
With a gas giant in the inner solar system, no tiny little rock planet is going to find a stable orbit. It would get tossed out into an eccentric orbit, assuming it didn't just get tossed into the sun.
Of course, by Earthlike planet, I mean a rock planet with a gaseous atmosphere in a stable, near circular orbit at a near-constant distance from the sun (yes, dammit, I call Epsilon Eridani the sun, meaning the big hot ball). There might be an Earthlike planet if you're willing to accept a really big unlivable asteroid like Pluto as "Earthlike".
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Despite rumors to the contrary, I am not a turnip.
The star trek planet Vulcan is supposedly supposed to be in the Epsilon Eridani system, and this corresponds almost perfectly with everything trek says about Vulcun (except that its a Jupiter sized planet, but thats all we can detect so who knows.), and its only 10.5 lightyears away. What are the chances of life ! (hehe. admittedly slim. but still. it would be so cool)
This is great news, for two primary reasons.
First off, it's more or less in our cosmic neighborhood. 10.5 lightyears!! We could quite conceivably send a probe in that direction well within the next century. Knowing that extrasolar planets exist this close to earth is a very good sign indeed.
The planet is also at a very moderate distance from its parent star -- although I see no data regarding the shape of its orbit. It might well be extremely elliptical, but we can always hope for something vaguely circular. In any case, it should make for some interesting viewing.
For more information about extrasolar planets, consult your local library. No, just kidding, try this site here.
First one there gets to name it!
yours,
john
Generally planets are so much smaller than the star they orbit that any affect they have on the stars brightness is very minimal, if any...
:).
What's actually being detected isn't a brightness change - it's a doppler shift in the star's emission lines as it moves towards and away from us due to the influence of the orbiting planet.
You have the right reason for nondetection; it's just a different parameter being measured
Since no alien race has contacted us yet, they're probably all less advanced than we are.
Wow. Is humanity really this cocky?
Should we educate them, and perhaps send religious missionaries? Or are these other lifeforms even capable of salvation?
I think that statement proves that all aliens are much more advanced than us! :)
Washington, DC: It's like Hollywood for ugly people.
I personally suspect that the radio phase of civilization is fairly short. If you only have a 2 or 3 century window after which a civilization discovers quantum communications or something, chances of actually finding a civilization based on RF would have to be vanishingly small. However, once you discover quantum communications (Or whatever) you can instanteously tune in to the furthest reaches of the Universe. And THEN you find out that the universal internet is clogged with live qkpth porn and make vlbork fast schemes and tune out in disgust.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
The thing about big planets like this is that they tend to have a lot of moons. In our system, one of the moons (Europa) has water on it, which may be liquid. Now think if Jupiter was closer to the sun. More solar radiation, more tidal forces. Perhaps there could be a livable world in orbit around this planet!!! This is definitely worth sending a probe after. I just wish we were spending more money on space. I really do. It's sad how unimportant it seems to be.
> There's GOTTA be some kinda way to slashdot that planet.
Well, now that one has been found so close, everyone on the planet is going to start directing radio broadcasts there in hopes of getting a SETI response. I think that qualifies as spam.
I wonder whether their response will be a cease-and-desist from the galactic equivalent of the FCC. What's the penalty for a RF DoS attack on a solar system?
ps - If any Epsilon Eridanites are reading this... MAKE MONEY FAST!
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Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Generally planets are discovered by a "wobble" that they induce in the star that they orbit that is caused by the gravitational attraction between the sun and the star. This is also why a large number of the known extrasolar planets are also in relatively close orbits, both due to the increased gravitational force and the fact that an orbit takes place in a much smaller amount of time.
Generally planets are so much smaller than the star they orbit that any affect they have on the stars brightness is very minimal, if any, and thus differences in relative brightness are not a good way to detect extrasolar planets.
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