Transit Method Reveals Many Extrasolar Planets

eldavojohn writes "You might recall not too long ago the first photo of an extra solar planet or, more recently, the mapping & speculation on these planets that lie outside our own solar system. Long since those first few spotted in the 90s, we're now starting to find them in droves due to the popularity of a method that relies on the planet passing directly between the viewer on earth and the star that it orbits. Be sure to check out Space.com's list of the most interesting extra-solar planets. Will we ever find Earth 2.0 candidates?"

Comments

Re:Will we ever find Earth 2.0 candidates?

[omeomi]

Will we ever find Earth 2.0 candidates?"

I certainly hope it contains the same easy-to use ergonomic AJAX functionality as Web 2.0...I hate having to reload an entire Earth page every time I want to do something...

perhaps not so lucky

[goombah99]

Considering the statistically unlikely percentage of planetary orbits that would naturally line up so that the planet would transit its sun from our point of view, planets must be pretty much common as dust. Either that or God was nice enough to line them up so it's easy for us to find them (possible, I hear God is a very nice person)... Maybe not so lucky. Most of the planets in our solar system (not all) have their rotational axes mostly parallel to their orbital axis. I assume there's some reason for that, perhaps simply if they are spun off of the sun then they acquire it's angular momentum. Or like the moon where tidal forces lock the orbit. In any case then, the next question is if the solar systems in our galaxy mainly orbit in the plane of the galaxies rotation. I'd assume so.

Given all that then it's not too surprising that there be a preference for this favorable occultation geometry.

Finally I note that we are not really interested in planets that don't rotate in their orbital plane since otherwise they'd be roastingly hot on one side and freezing on the other.

I'm not sure how serious you're being

[benhocking]

However, they do plan on looking for signs of molecular oxygen in the atmospheres of some of these planets. Molecular oxygen is chemically unstable, so its presence is usually considered to be an excellent indicator of life. Not perfect, as it might not be necessary or sufficient, but it's the best method we have right now for detecting M-class planets.