PC Pals Forum
General Discussion => Science & Nature => Topic started by: sam on November 16, 2008, 09:49
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First Direct Detection of an Exoplanet
(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi71.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi126%2Fweirdspaceman%2Ffomalhaut-planet.jpg&hash=83b370b3af12b5849d7044e05b66069a5e83251d)
It pains me to say this in a way, since I’ve spent the last couple of years trying todo the same thing (but at radio wavelengths) but the first extrasolar planet (i.e. a planet orbiting around a star which is not the Sun) appears to have been directly detected. Oh and its not just one… there are a couple! The first (image above) was discovered using the Hubble Space Telescope imaging the star Fomalhaut which is located about 25 light years from Earth. For a number of years there has been evidence of a planet being present - due to the perturbations it caused on the ring of gas and dust that surround the star. The planet is believed to have a mass similar to that of Jupiter but is at an orbital radius much further away (about 4 times that of the distance between Neptune and Jupiter).
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WEEK IN PHOTOS: Aztec Dancers, WWII Parade, More
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/photogalleries/wip-week107/index.html
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Oh Haley sends her commiserations and regards. She reckons exoplanet research is the most difficult field in astronomy.
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I'm sure your time will come, Sam. :)
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Oh Haley sends her commiserations and regards. She reckons exoplanet research is the most difficult field in astronomy.
probably one of the hardest... which is why I also do the radio survey stuff... gotta keep myself broad - yes obivous joke there.
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Now you need to write a definition of obivous, Sam. ;)