JakeM741 Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cold, heavy "super-Earth" has been found orbiting a distant star, using a method that holds promise for detecting faraway planets that closely resemble our own, astronomers said on Monday.The planet weighs 13 times as much as Earth and is orbiting a star about 9,000 light-years away. But instead of circling close to its star, as Earth does, this "super-Earth" is about as distant from its star as Jupiter and Saturn are from the Sun. An international team of scientists figured the new planet probably has a temperature of minus 330 degrees F (minus 201 C), making it one of the coldest planets detected outside our solar system. The discovery is billed as a super-Earth because it is thought to be a rocky, terrestrial planet like Earth, even though it is much more massive. The planet was detected by astronomers using a project called OGLE -- short for Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment -- which looks for changes in light coming from distant stars. If another star passes between the faraway star and a telescope on Earth, the gravity of the intervening star acts like a lens and magnifies the incoming light. When a planet is orbiting the closer star, the planet's gravity can add its own distinctive signature to the light. This phenomenon is known as gravitational microlensing, and it has the potential to detect less massive planets than other methods of searching for planets around other stars. LOTS OF SUPER-EARTHS The OGLE project detected the microlensing event in April; 36 astronomers working with OGLE found the signs of a planet, 9,000 light-years away in the direction of the Milky Way's central galactic bulge. A light-year is about 6 trillion miles, the distance light travels in a year. Andrew Gould, an Ohio State University professor who heads the planet-hunting group MicroFUN -- short for Microlensing Follow-Up Network -- said this discovery has two implications. "First, this icy super-Earth dominates the region around its star that in our solar system is populated by the gas-giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn," Gould said in a statement. "We've never seen a system like this before, because we've never had the means to find them. "And second," he said, "these icy super-Earths are pretty common. Roughly 35 percent of all stars have them." In the last decade, scientists have detected some 170 so-called extrasolar planets, using a variety of techniques. The vast majority are gas giant planets like Jupiter which are hostile to life as it is known on Earth. In January, a planet about five-and-a-half times Earth's mass circling a star near the center of the Milky Way was detected using gravitational microlensing. More information and an image are available online at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/press/pr0614image.html. http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArtic...umber=1&summit= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L3thal Veteran Posted March 14, 2006 Veteran Share Posted March 14, 2006 I wonder what's out there...all the way out there :ninja: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meshuggah Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I wonder what's out there...all the way out there :ninja: Life :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 :woot: Krypton has been found ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgEnTsMiTh Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Moved Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quigley0 Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 9,000 light-years away in the direction of the Milky Way's central galactic bulge. That phrase makes me chuckle. Ok, so, this means that if we can travel the speed of light, it will take us 9,000 years to reach IcyEarth? :pinch: I am all about the space program, but, maybe it would be better to fund projects that are a little more "local"? Like, 1 light year or less. Oh well, i guess in the grand scheme of things, the info gathered here will help somewhere else down the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrchetsteadman Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Call me what you want but I think there is life out there. Maybe not little green men, but there is something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacal Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 That phrase makes me chuckle. Ok, so, this means that if we can travel the speed of light, it will take us 9,000 years to reach IcyEarth? :pinch: I am all about the space program, but, maybe it would be better to fund projects that are a little more "local"? Like, 1 light year or less. Oh well, i guess in the grand scheme of things, the info gathered here will help somewhere else down the line. The closest star to us is ~4 light years away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuJu Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 is that a real pic it might sound stupid but that dosnt look real Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aristotle-dude Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 is that a real pic it might sound stupid but that dosnt look real When you clicked on the link to see the pic, you should have read that it's an artist's concept. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dacris2000 Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 That's all good, but when are they gonna find a *normal* earth?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvbfan Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 That's all good, but when are they gonna find a *normal* earth?? Isn't that an oxymoron? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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