Kepler May Uncover Numerous Ring Worlds

astroengine writes "According to a new publication, NASA's Kepler exoplanet-hunting space telescope may soon start discovering Saturn-like ringed alien worlds. So far, none have been positively identified, as Kepler has only detected exoplanets orbiting close to their parent stars; if these exoplanets have rings, they are most likely to have rings facing edge-on to their orbits, making them nearly impossible to detect. As more distant-orbiting exoplanets are detected, there's more likelihood ringed worlds will be tilted, allowing Kepler to see them."

Comments

I am disappoint

[sqrt(2)]

I was hoping it meant Niven-like ringworlds, not saturn-like. Still cool though.

Re:I am disappoint

[RMingin]

Normally I'd mock you, but I, too, misread the title as "finding more ringworlds" and wondered when we had found the first.

Re:I am disappoint

[Anonymous Coward]

Yup, would it have been so tough to say "Ringed worlds"?

Re:I am disappoint

[Anonymous Coward]

I want to poke the author of that title in the eye.

Re:I am disappoint

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, because it would be awesome to live in a universe in which your ancestors are a collection of ultra-smart, viscious child tending machines that can transmute matter, build ring worlds, travel 30,000 lys and want to destroy you and your planet because you smell wrong.

Re:I am disappoint

[mattcoz]

Yeah, a huge difference between "ring worlds" and "ringED worlds".

Re:I am disappoint

[Anonymous Coward]

Forget the ring stuff, I was hoping the title meant Johannes Kepler was still alive.

Re:I am disappoint

[Daetrin]

Known Space ends up being pretty big and - Kzinti aside - pretty safe for humans.

Well, except for that whole massive explosion at the core of the galaxy thing, but we've got a couple tens of thousands of years to figure that out, right? :)

Re:I am disappoint

[EdZ]

The question is, what would be the occultation signature of a ringworld (or a ringworld's Shadow Square) that we should be looking for with Kepler?

Re:I am disappoint

[LynnwoodRooster]

Yeah, a huge difference between "ring worlds" and "ringED worlds".

Worlds with erectile dysfunction tend to die out rather quickly, so I don't think we'll find too many of them...

Re:I am disappoint

[Rogerborg]

Any society with the capacity to engineer and build such a construction wouldn't need one.

We didn't need to go to the moon. If we do meet biological intelligences out there in the vasty deeps, it'll be quixotic ones.

Re:I am disappoint

[BlueStrat]

Known Space ends up being pretty big and - Kzinti aside - pretty safe for humans.

Well, except for that whole massive explosion at the core of the galaxy thing, but we've got a couple tens of thousands of years to figure that out, right? :)

Well, if the core explosion has an intelligence behind it's cause, then your sig posits one possible intent:

"This Space Intentionally Left Blank"

Who knows? Might be the initial site-prep for a hyperspace bypass. You could always check at the office on Alpha Centauri. (Helpful Hint: Bring leopard-repelling rock.)

Strat

Ringworld

[Ultra64]

This reminds me that I need to re-read Ringworld

Missing Rings

[retroworks]

Kepler should keep its eye out for the planets that remove their rings and place them in their pockets. They show attraction, but part without saying goodbye the next morning.

Seems not unlikely

[jimmyhat3939]

I'm not sure why one would view this as surprising -- given our own Solar System it seems like a highly likely outcome.

That being said, it's great the the resolution has reached the levels where features like this can be distinguished for such faint objects.

Subject doesnt mean what poster thinks

[Courageous]

Mod -1, no geek potential

Cue sound of Larry Niven crying

I can't seem to find info on how long-lived

[Maritz]

Ring systems like Saturn's are likely to last. I seem to recall reading some opinion that they might only persist for a few hundred million years as opposed to billions of years, meaning we might be quite lucky to see them. If Kepler is indeed able to detect enough of them to build up a statistical picture then we might get a better idea of how long-lived such systems tend to be in general. Some of Saturn's rings are quite obviously kept more stable by so called 'shepherd' moons that also maintain the little gaps or grooves between rings...

not really sure of the point

[argStyopa]

As far as I understand the article, it's that
1) ring planets are likely to be further from their main sun, due to solar pressure driving away small particulates
2) we're seeing planets further from their sun, so it's more likely we'll see ringed planets.

Just seems that this isn't much of a piece of news - it's not really discussing a new technology or technique, it's just saying that our ability to see more means we'll be more statistically likely to see something rare.