Solar System Look-Alike Found

SpuriousLogic writes "Astronomers have discovered a planetary system orbiting a distant star which looks much like our own. They found two planets that were close matches for Jupiter and Saturn orbiting a star about half the size of our Sun. Martin Dominik, from St Andrews University in the UK, said the finding suggested systems like our own could be much more common than we thought."

Comments

Must be our evil mirror solar system counterpart

[the_humeister]

But wait! I'm the one with the goatee. Does that mean I'm the evil one???

A bit of a reach

[Bovius]

I'm sorry, I have trouble whenever whenever an astronomer suggests that something they found "may be much more common than we thought." One observation does not mean way more common. It jumps the gap from "purely theoretical" to "proven possible", and in the data set of the known universe really isn't enough to make any type of assertion about commonality.

Yes, I know, our solar system makes it two.

Re:A bit of a reach

[Anonymous Coward]

It certainly eliminates the "uniqueness" we thought our solar system was. So yes, 2 is more common than we previously thought.

Re:A bit of a reach

[Otter]

I think the idea is that since we can only examine such a small fraction of the universe, anything we find must be reasonably "common". (Earth itself being exempt from that logic because of the anthropic principle.)

Re:A bit of a reach

[porkchop_d_clown]

So yes, 2 is more common than we previously thought.

Because a star is "just like ours" if it has 50% of the mass?

I'm sorry, this story is a ridiculous piece of over-reaching. A star half the size of ours will have, off the cuff, maybe 1/4th the light output. How big is that habitable zone going to be?

Re:A bit of a reach

[Toonol]

Right; we don't really have any data to confirm how common earthlike planets are. I expect they're very common, using the common-sense reasoning thusly: As soon as we gained the technology to detect big planets we found them all over. As soon as we develop the technology to detect small planets, the same thing will probably happen. I'm 99% positive I'm right.

But scientists can't really reason that way; they may hypothesize smaller planets, but can't really make any factual statement about what lies beyond their ability to detect. I guess that the statement would be better phrased as we now have concrete evidence our solar system isn't unique, so the hypothesis that our type of system is relatively common has passed a hurdle of proof.

Re:A bit of a reach

[CorSci81]

Actually, considering the range of sizes stars can have, a factor of 2 is pretty damn close in the astronomical world.

Re:A bit of a reach

[pe1rxq]

Half the size is still very much alike....
And because the configuration is alike (as far as gas giants and there place) it is likely that the evolution of our system is not unique.

Re:A bit of a reach

[WaltBusterkeys]

Saying that "a factor of 2 is pretty damn close in the astronomical world" is right, but it proves how unlikely it is that we'll find another solar system "just like ours." If astronomers think that being off by 50% is a discovery worth announcing worldwide, then that shows just how unlikely they think it is that they'll discover something that's only off by 5-10%. As others have said, a sun that's half the size of ours will have a much smaller habitable zone (at least based on carbon/water life), and there are only gas giants circling this star.

Re:A bit of a reach

[niktemadur]

...it proves how unlikely it is that we'll find another solar system "just like ours". If astronomers think that being off by 50% is a discovery worth announcing worldwide, then that shows just how unlikely they think it is that they'll discover something that's only off by 5-10%.

Another way of looking at it, is that the technologies and techniques used to detect extrasolar planets are getting more sensitive and precise, we're inching closer the point in which we'll be able to detect solar systems much more similar to our own. The announcement is the equivalent of saying "We've attained a new milestone, we're getting there".

Ten years ago, only super-Jupiters with orbital periods of a couple of days could tug at its' star strongly enough to be detected from Earth, while today much more subtle (and complex) influences can be inferred.

Even though extrasolar planets are discovered so often now that it's almost become a mundane occurrence, we've yet to even begin the Golden Age Of Planet Discovery. Just you wait until the Kepler Mission, New Worlds Mission, Terrestrial Planet Finder Mission, or any other of an array of proposals, come to fruition. Then the fun will truly start. And let's be patient, as Hubble, COBE and WMAP took like what seemed forever to get off the ground, yet look at the results.

Might be somewhere interesting

[lobiusmoop]

for the SETI crowd to point their antennas to.

5,000 light years

[mr_mischief]

... "At least planetary systems like ours might be more common than previously thought over that direction, 5,000 years ago, at around the distance from us that light would take 5,000 years to get here. Or maybe somebody's holding up a distorted mirror 2,500 light years away. We're not really sure. Some scientist said we're discovering more than we used to, now that we're confident that we can detect them and bother looking. That must mean the spike in data is representative."

I'm looking hopefully forward to giving people directions by system name and planet number just as much as the next /. geek. I doubt, though, that thinking in general about the number of multi-planet systems has changed drastically because of this one system. Like most science reporting in the mainstream press, this is oversimplified and overhyped.

Impressive work

[hattig]

I read the article earlier, and then it had that the star was 5 light years away. I investigated, and it is actually 4900 light years away.

I'm impressed that they could resolve two planets going around a star that far away, gravitational lensing or not.

Dupe

[jdb2]

Here's the original from February 14 :

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/14/223241

jdb2

Re:rocky planets

[pe1rxq]

Actually if you read the article (I know this is slashdot....) you would know that the current techniques are at the level that an earth like planet could be detected with gravitational lensing.
Just not at the distance of this system.

An earth size rock could be detected any day now.

"Inhabited" or "Inhabitable?"

[BeeBeard]

FTA:

He said that the ultimate goal for exoplanet researchers was to find habitable Earth-like and Mars-like planets. (emphasis added)

While we all crack wise about the bizarro planet of our science fiction dreams, it bears pointing out that the point of the program is ostensibly to find other inhabitable planets--that is, potential sites for future human expansion, rather than other inhabited planets. The difference between the two is not insignificant, and is a nod to the somewhat conservative view that while it may prove impossible to find another planet like the Earth where life has evolved concurrently with our own, it is nevertheless very realistic to search for another planet like the Earth where life could thrive.

Re:Must be our evil mirror solar system counterpar

[Belial6]

If your the one with goatse... Yes, you are the evil one.

Ohhhh! goatEE. Never mind.

Re:Real Estate Prices

[Snowmit]

I heard you can buy a two bedroom rancher on its earth-like planets for only $15000. Of course, the commute is killer. Listen, I'll sell you one right now for only $4999. Act fast! The long term returns on this real estate investment are ASTRONOMICAL.

Re:Must be our evil mirror solar system counterpar

[BenSchuarmer]

This solar system looks like ours, but it's only half our size.

My theory is that we're both evil (like Doctor Evil and Mini-Me).

Biz opportunity?

[Linker3000]

A solar system with similar features to our own eh? Darl...?

Paging Dr. Drake

[dpilot]

Your equation is waiting... ...for some coefficients.

Re:Must be our evil mirror solar system counterpar

[Oldav]

Nah, a goatee used to make you look evil, but now only makes you look like a disaffected member of generation X.

Overlords...

[interactive_civilian]

Of course, lest they take us over first. You don't want to be a slave to an alien civilization, do you? With all of the overlord welcoming that goes on around here, I wouldn't be surprised if the answer to that question is "Yes".

UPDATE

[lordfoul]

It turns out we were looking into the wrong end of the telescope. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

I wonder...

[MrCreosote]

if they have the same gods as we do?

Re:Must be our evil mirror solar system counterpar

[Johnny5000]

Old lady - OMG, here comes another Gen X'er with a goatee and a Soundgarden tat on his arm! Run for your lives!
Gen X'er - But ma'am, wouldn't you like to buy some of my homemade cookies for charity to the blind?
Old lady - Shoo! Go away, you filthy slacker, or I'm yelling "rape"!

When will this cruel, pointless discrimination end? And who's the evil mutant in this little parable, eh?

Ooh, ooh, I know this one.

A. March 5th, 2015
B. It's the old lady, right?