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Trio of Super-Earths Discovered
FiReaNGeL writes "A group of astronomers have now discovered a system of three super-Earths around a rather normal star, which is slightly less massive than our Sun, and is located 42 light-years away towards the southern Doradus and Pictor constellations. 'We have made very precise measurements of the velocity of the star HD 40307 over the last five years, which clearly reveal the presence of three planets.' The planets, having 4.2, 6.7, and 9.4 times the mass of the Earth, orbit the star with periods of 4.3, 9.6, and 20.4 days, respectively. 'The perturbations induced by the planets are really tiny — the mass of the smallest planets is one hundred thousand times smaller than that of the star — and only the high sensitivity of HARPS made it possible to detect them' says co-author François Bouchy, from the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, France. Clearly these planets are only the tip of the iceberg."
So which one are we going to fight over for oil?
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
Does it help to think of it as a project fork?
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
> ... and is located 42 light-years away ...
So that was why the answer to the ultimate question was 42 - and the ultimate question itself must be something like "Are we alone in the universe, and if not, how many light-years away is the nearest other life?"
Space race just found a new meaning for its life, its universe, and everything.
It's a planet devoted to fighting crime, and supporting truth, justice, and the American way.
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I think it's the "42 light-years away" that makes them less than useful.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Ah, a software analogy, all is right with the world again!
God, schmod. I want my monkey man!
... swap Pluto for one?
Have gnu, will travel.
Has anybody seen Trillian?
Clearly these planets are only the tip of the iceberg."
Like tips of icebergs? Then they're NOT like earth but more like Neptune?? Wait didn't the summary say they were really really hot?
Huh?
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
Whatever you do, don't try to answer this question by typing "really short periods" into Google. Trust me.
when we get there, there aren't any nuked out cities
"Tip of the iceberg"? We found icebergs on a trio of extraterrestrial Super-Earths? That means water! That means life! That means green super-women, out there for the asking, who haven't heard how weird it is to have a space nerd boyfriend!
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make install -not war
Clearly, these planets do not satisfy the Earth-like gravity requirement of a class M planet.
I declare these planets property of mine . Anybody trespassing on these planets will be orbitally bombarded.
As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.
It's how you use it! Ha ha what a lie.
A more accurate description would be "Rocky and not a gas giant".
I think the point is that in the past we could only detect large gas giants, and now we can see smaller ones.
If I remember correctly the observed light from a star will wobble due to planets orbit around it. Larger the planet, bigger the wobble, and easier to see. Something like that anyway.
Oh and they don't actually see them, its is more like they make observations that they exist. They can do calculations to figure out density, but thats about it I think.
"perturbations"
Did they make this word from Pubes and Masturbation or is it just me?