Alpha Centauri Turns Out Not To Have a Planet After All. At Least, Not Yet (forbes.com)

StartsWithABang writes: In 2012, astronomers announced that the nearest star system to us, the Alpha Centauri system, possessed at least one exoplanet around it. A periodic signal that recurred just every 3.24 days was consistent with an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting and gravitationally tugging on the second largest member of the star system: Alpha Centauri B. That planet, named Alpha Centauri Bb, turns out not to actually be there. A reanalysis of the data shows that a combination of stellar properties and the times at which the observations were made conspired to produce this spurious signal: a signal that goes away if the data is handled correctly. Accounting for everything correctly reveals something else of interest, a periodic 20-day signal, which may turn out — with better observations — to be Alpha Centauri's first exoplanet after all.

Comments

Oh good

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

We'll finally be able to go our local planning department to see if there's any planning charts or demolition orders for our solar system.

Or at least, see if there's any small furry creatures living there.

Re:Oh good

[jfdavis668]

When men were real men, and women were real women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.

Hyperspace Bypass

[Lead Butthead]

Has it occurred to you that perhaps the planet isn't there because the Vogons had erroneously demolished it after having mistaken it for Earth?