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Photo of First Extra-Solar Planet?

Posted by chrisd on from the scoping-future-homes-for-cmdrtaco dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "According to NASA 'A major discovery from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope about a planet outside our Solar System will be announced in a Space Science Update on 27 November. The discovery marks an important new capability in efforts to uncover secrets about these newly discovered extrasolar planets.' Given the names of the individuals listed as speakers at this event, plus previous press releases and published papers, it is likely that the topic of discussion will focus upon planet(s) circling the sunlike star HD 209458."

3 of 30 comments (clear)

  1. Photo of First Extra-Solar Planet? by Karma+50 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Photo of First Extra-Solar Planet?

    No. It's a series of photos showing a star getting 2% dimmer as a planet passes between it and us.

    Nothing to get excited about unless you're an astro-physicist.

    --
    http://www.thehungersite.com
  2. Re:Planets found != life found by Yazeran · · Score: 2, Insightful
    no of course you are right :-)

    But some people start thinking Mars or Earth when they hear the word planet, and forget that a planet does not have to have a solid or liquid surface (which most scientise belive are nescesary for life (i.e liquid water)) as opposed to the super critical gasses found on Jupiter and Saturn.


    Yazeran


    Plan: To go to Mars one day with a Hammer.

  3. No, it didn't. by Haeleth · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A test that succeeds on a sample of precisely one is hardly proven to work. If I find a three-legged cat, I can't claim that any three-legged animal is a cat, or that all cats have three legs. Similarly, if similar signs are found on another world, that doesn't necessarily mean that life exists there - nor does their absence prove that it doesn't.

    Although I will concede that finding similar signs would indicate a possibility of life...