Slashdot Mirror


Planet Discovered with a Massive Core

helioquake writes "A collaboration of astronomers discovers possible a 'Rossetta Stone' of planetary formation study, reported by San Francisco State Univerity and Subaru Observatory. This new planet, orbiting around G-star like our Sun (HD 149026), weighs roughly equal to that of Saturn, while its size is significantly smaller in diameter. Planetary modeling suggests that the core of the planet alone must have 70 times more mass than Earth, indicating the possible existence of a metallic solid core inside the planet. Just like the rocky planet discovered earlier, the finding of this dense-core planet may lead to better understading of the formation of rockey planets in the Universe."

2 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. phhht by justforaday · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm gonna wait for the JoeIsuzu Observatory to confirm this before I believe it.

    --
    I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
  2. Re:Time for IPX by Issue9mm · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Don't know about you, but it seems like the sort of thing that could result in disaster.

    [Bullshit physics mode]We mine the planet for all its usable/obtainable metals, reducing it by, say, a third of its size. Mass/Density ratios are thrown off, and its orbit is ever so slightly altered, causing an eventual collision course with either its home star or another planet, which we'll call "Planet 2". (Any suitable astral body would do, but we'll assume it crashes into another planet.)

    We later determine that Planet 2 contained peaceful, intelligent life, as well as space-faring technology, which they used to travel to other intelligent planets we've yet to discover.

    Enter Planet 3, a planet inhabited by an intelligent, but warmongering race of aliens. These aliens used to reside on Planet 2, but seceded from Planet 2 for religious reasons, much aking to the initial settlement of America. Though times are still rocky between planets 2 and 3, things have cooled off considerably between the two as terrorist acts have declined, and travelling restrictions have been lifted between them.

    Ack'bertha, an inhabitant of Planet 3, launches her shuttle to Planet 2 to visit her family, which she hasn't seen in many years, only to find Planet 2 completely demolished.

    Eventually, it is discovered that some insolent planet, pronounced as Earth in a foriegn tongue, is the root cause of the deaths of Planet 3's many relatives, and an interplanetary Justice League dwarfing the Lantern Corps is called in to mediate, at which time language barriers become all too apparent, and war is declared.[/bullshit physics]