4-inch Telescope Finds New Planet

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4-inch Telescope Finds New Planet

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday August 25, 2004 @04:54AM from the because-you-can dept.

serutan writes "After a backyard astronomy size telescope first tracked the periodic dimming of a star 500 light-years away, the Keck I telescope in Hawaii later confirmed that a Jupiter-size planet orbits the star. A press release from Harvard gives details. This is the first result of the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey, a project using small telescopes and cheap equipment to search for extrasolar planets. "

26 of 253 comments (clear)

Proof that size doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · 2004-08-25 04:55 · Score: 5, Funny

I've never been so proud and confident of my four inches. Thank you Slashdot.
1. Re:Proof that size doesn't matter by Ignignot · 2004-08-25 05:01 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  The telescope is four inches wide. I would be horrified to learn you are the same.
  
  --
  I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
2. Re:Proof that size doesn't matter by farlcow · 2004-08-25 05:24 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  An email in my inbox this morning guaranteed to increase your size by 4 inches. This could like, double, the number of planets we find! And free shipping to boot.
Let's review the facts here: by Anonymous Coward · 2004-08-25 04:55 · Score: 0, Funny
- 4-inch
- Cmdrtaco
In Related News... by grunt107 · 2004-08-25 04:55 · Score: 5, Funny

2 inch telescope finds new neighbor...
1. Re:In Related News... by Scaba · 2004-08-25 05:00 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  But does this new neighbor have Jupiter-sized orbs?
2. Re:In Related News... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-08-25 05:08 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  No, but if he squints he can see Uranus.
3. Re:In Related News... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-08-25 05:13 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  No, but she's got HUGE......tracts of land.
4. Re:In Related News... by kfg · 2004-08-25 05:48 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  But does this new neighbor have Jupiter-sized orbs?
  
  They're pulling me in. Can't. . . resist. . .the attraction.
  
  KFG
That's great and all... by cplusplus · 2004-08-25 04:57 · Score: 3, Funny

...but can they find my keys? I have a meeting in half an hour.

--
"False hope is why we'll never run out of natural resources!" - Lewis Black
1. Re:That's great and all... by StevenHenderson · 2004-08-25 05:11 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  ...but can they find my keys? I have a meeting in half an hour.
  
  Good to see you are using that time wisely. :)
Name? by TiggertheMad · 2004-08-25 05:02 · Score: 5, Funny

Oooh, they have to name the planet 'Rupert'. We really need a planet, somewhere, to be named 'Rupert'. Douglas would be so proud...

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HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Confusing Units by Paulrothrock · 2004-08-25 05:08 · Score: 5, Funny

How big is "Jupiter Sized?" My mind cannot comprehend such things. Is there a conversion for VW Beetles or Libraries of Congress?

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I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
1. Re:Confusing Units by Jonathunder · 2004-08-25 05:23 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Jupiter's mass is about 1.9 x 10 ^ 27 kg.
  
  The classic 1974 VW Beetle had a mass of 870 kg.
  
  So a Jupiter-sized planet is about 2183908045977011494252873 VW Beetles.
  
  I was unable to find the mass of the LOC. Sorry.
Re:Not the telescope by Anonymous Coward · 2004-08-25 05:08 · Score: 3, Funny

You're a programmer aren't you?
Re:Kudos by smooth+wombat · 2004-08-25 05:09 · Score: 5, Funny

I personally don't consider anything under 12 inches to be worthwhile, but now I'll think twice about ruling-out the potential of such small telescopes.
Boy am I glad you ended that sentence with the word 'telescope'.

--
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Re:Very close by smooth+wombat · 2004-08-25 05:14 · Score: 2, Funny

Aren't hot gases harder to keep hold of?
Eat a bowl of chili and let us know.

--
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Once again by AbbyNormal · 2004-08-25 05:20 · Score: 5, Funny

it goes to show, its not how big it is...its how well you use it!

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Sig it.
4 inches - slightly misleading by numist · 2004-08-25 05:24 · Score: 2, Funny

4 inch diameter, damn

I was thinking this might also be a story on nanotechnology... a 4" long telescope.

oh well, back to work.
Re:Smaller Planets? by ImaLamer · 2004-08-25 05:29 · Score: 4, Funny

Big planets help out the inner planets by keeping collisions down.

Think of Jovian planets as switches, routers and other Layer-2 and above network hardware. They break up collision domains.

Ha...

(funny to me ok!)

--
Get your Unix fortune now!
Last time.... by psyconaut · 2004-08-25 05:30 · Score: 2, Funny

....I put my telescope between two moons, the girlfriend got pregnant!

-psy
Re:So much for Big Science by Todd+Fisher · 2004-08-25 05:35 · Score: 2, Funny

There needs to be a lot more prizes awarded to amateur scientists for discoveries and fewer big science projects. First one to cure cancer gets an iPod.

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--I'm not talking about dance lessons. I'm talking about putting a brick through the other guy's windshield.-
Simple by HarveyBirdman · 2004-08-25 05:37 · Score: 4, Funny

Jupiter sized = 1 Jupiter
I hope this helps. :-)

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--- Ban humanity.
Re:Neato by LiquidCoooled · 2004-08-25 05:46 · Score: 2, Funny

You can just see their long nights pouring over the data, trying to match it up.

prof1: Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

prof2: Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.

prof1: Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

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liqbase :: faster than paper
Angry Mob Says. . . by uberjoe · 2004-08-25 06:33 · Score: 2, Funny

"Now lets burn down the observatory so this never happens again!"

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The days of the digital watch are numbered.
Re:Not the telescope by OneOver137 · 2004-08-25 11:48 · Score: 2, Funny

C'mon can't you just give a skosh more credit to the CCD camera attached to that scope?