Dusty Disc May Mean Other Earths

DoraLives writes "According to the BBC, astronomers say they have evidence for Earth-like planets orbiting a nearby star. The star in question is Vega, which is nice and close (as stars go), quite young (also as stars go), and one of the brightest stars in the sky. Apparently, 'Vega has a disc of dust circling it, and at least one large planet which could sweep debris aside allowing smaller worlds like Earth to exist.' Should be interesting to keep an eye on it as the years roll by as the disk rotates and our optical powers keep growing."

Comments

Terrestrial Planet Finder Links

[js7a]

Until we get good stellar-occluding interferometers and coronagraphs, we can't be sure. Once we get those in place, it becomes possible to determine the atmospheric composition (i.e., O2, H2O, N2, etc.)

Here are Terrestrial Planet Finder links at:

• NASA JPL (Flash animation)
• Caltech
• Space.com

No One's Found Earth-Like Planets at Vega...Yet

[reallocate]

This is an all-too-common example of sloppy BBC reporting. Evidence of Earth-like planets at Vega has not been found. What's been found is a dust disk that conforms to theories that very large planets ormed early in a system's development will migrate to larger orbits, dragging a lot of debris that would otherwise crash on small planets and inhibit life there. (Still a lot of rocks left over to crash and burn, though. Take a look at all those craters on the Moon. Earth would look the same, if not for erosion.)

Good news, though, but not as good as imaging a small planet and getting positive results for water, oxygen and methane.