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Starlight Measurements to Size Up a Planet

Posted by michael on from the about-the-size-of-my-thumb dept.

Overcoat writes "NASA scientists have used a technique called 'astrometry' to determine the size of a planet orbiting Gliese 876, a star 15 light years away from our solar system. By measuring tiny changes in the 'tilt' of light emitted from the star, changes which were caused by the force exterted by the orbiting planet known as Gliese 876b, the scientists were able to determine that the planet is the size of a golfball. Just kidding: the planet's a whopper, coming in at between 1.89 and 2.4 times the size of Jupiter. This marks the first time astrometry, usually used to measure the distance between stars, has been used to measure a planet."

2 of 23 comments (clear)

  1. Astronomy by rastachops · · Score: 3, Funny
    hah was I the only one to read it and think you being sarcastic:

    NASA scientists have used a technique called 'astronomy'
  2. Hubble is Big Brother! by Tsar · · Score: 3, Funny

    "If you were in San Francisco and there was a quarter lying on the ground in New York and someone moved the coin an inch, we'd be able to tell," said George Benedict, an astronomer with the McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas in Austin, who is among an international team of scientists using the Hubble Space for astrometry research.

    Seems like an odd use of the telescope, but not as scary as this one:

    "You can't hide massive companions from the Hubble Space Telescope," said Barbara McArthur...

    What if we don't go out, and just hang out at her place and watch pay-per-view?