36 civilizations in the Milky Way

MILKY WAY GALAXY COULD BE HOME TO 36 ACTIVE, INTELLIGENT CIVILISATIONS BESIDES HUMANS, STUDY SUGGESTS  firstpost.com

Tom Westby and Christopher Conselice published a study estimating that there were or were 36 civilizations throughout the Milky Way Galaxy (it was not said what the level of technological advancement would be, so it could very well be ancient or medieval).

The distance between them would be 17,000 light-years on average (with current technology it would take us millions of years to travel there, given that up to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, 4 light-years away, would take 6300 years).

Communication with another civilization 17,000 light-years away would take 34,000 years, 17,000 years for our signal to reach that planet, and another 17,000 years for their signal to reach our planet.

It cannot be discussed as on Messenger or as in Star Trek through video broadcasts from light years.

There is a possibility that civilization will disappear until the signal arrives, decay technologically or change completely culturally, or have been destroyed or invaded by another aggressive civilization and not find the same civilization as before.

It is impossible to communicate with other extraterrestrial civilizations through space, unless we find a way to transmit signals through wormholes / portals and reach the planet directly in a matter of seconds.

But for that we would need centuries or even millennia to study the universe, matter and dark energy, and invent a technology to open wormholes through which to transmit information, signals and messages.

Maybe signals from an advanced civilization already crossed the Earth's orbit 17,000 years ago ......... when humans were primitive hunter-gatherers hunting bison, settling in North America, inventing pottery for the first time in China and domesticated the pig.

Maybe 5,000 years ago when people built the pyramids or 800 years ago when Europe was in the Middle Ages, in the age of castles, inquisitions and knights.

Maybe there have never been any signals past the Earth about how vast the galaxy is.

Researchers have found another planet (Wolf 1061c) that can sustain life: Located just 14 light-years away

Credit: The Wolf 1061 system. Credit: UNSW Sydney

An exoplanet with the prime conditions for life could be located just 14 light-years away, scientists report, in one of the closest neighbouring solar systems to our own.

New research suggests that a planet circling the star Wolf 1061 falls within what's called the star's habitable zone - making it one of the most likely neighbouring candidates for a planet that supports life.

This artist's concept illustrates a young, red dwarf star surrounded by three planets. Credit: wikipedia

"The Wolf 1061 system is important, because it is so close, and that gives other opportunities to do follow-up studies to see if it does indeed have life," says lead researcher Stephen Kane from San Francisco State University.

There are three planets orbiting Wolf 1061, but the planet Wolf 1061c is of particular interest.

Discovered in 2015, and with an estimated mass that's more than four times Earth's mass, Wolf 1061c is located right in the middle of Wolf 1061's habitable zone: the region where a planet's distance from its host star makes conditions suitable for liquid water and other life-supporting elements.

Our own Solar System runs by the same rules: conditions on Earth are just right for liquid water, whereas Mars is too cold.

To investigate whether Wolf 1061c might offer the same kind of habitability, the researchers analysed seven years of luminosity data from its host star and ran calculations of the exoplanet's orbit to figure out what the temperature and pressure on the surface could be.


The findings add weight to previous speculation that Wolf 1061c could be habitable – but just because the exoplanet is within a habitable zone, that doesn't necessarily mean it's one like Earth's.

The new data suggest that Wolf 1061c could have an atmosphere similar to what Venus had in its earliest days, meaning that any liquid water on the planet might not stick around for long. 

Previous research has suggested that high temperatures caused excessive water evaporation on Venus, and the newly formed water vapour in the atmosphere increased temperatures even further - a process known as a runaway greenhouse effect.

Now, the team thinks the same thing could be happening on Wolf 1061c, which is "close enough to the star that it's looking suspiciously like a runaway greenhouse", says Kane.

In addition, Wolf 1061c's orbit of its star varies much more quickly than Earth's orbit of the Sun, which would lead to chaotic climate changes such as a rapidly encroaching ice age (or warm phase).

So, is there life on Wolf 1061c?

We don't yet know, and to find out, we'll need more detailed measurements than what we have so far. To that end, Kane says NASA's James Webb telescope is one of the ways we'll be able to learn more about the exoplanet in the future.

Wolf 1061c Credit: Centauri Dreams

The telescope is launching next year, and its advanced optics should be able to reveal the atmospheric conditions on Wolf 1061c, and give us a better idea about whether water (and life) could really exist there.

Meanwhile, scientists from METI - the Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence organisation - are also interested in Wolf 1061c, and have been keeping a close eye on the exoplanet as they try to reach out to any alien life that might exist beyond our Solar System.

"I'm not holding my breath that we'll ever find evidence of life on Wolf 1061c," METI president Doug Vakoch told Rae Paoletta at Gizmodo.

"But the fact that there's a roughly Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of a star so close to our own Solar System is a good omen as we continue our search for life on other planets."

Other articles on the same theme:

• 4,000 confirmed exoplanets similar to Earth

• 10 fascinating planets outside the Solar System

• The newfound alien world named HD 131399Ab

• Mars could support extraterrestrial life. A new image published by the European Space Agency shows the place that would have hosted life

Story source: 

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Sciencealert . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Australian Radio Telescope Parkes Joins $100 Million Search for Alien Life

The Parkes radio telescope in Australia is the third telescope to begin searching for signs of intelligent alien life as part of the $100 million Breakthrough Listen project. Credit: CSIRO

Updated today 20/05/2020

$100 million search for intelligent alien life just added a big arrow to its quiver.

Breakthrough Listen has begun using the Parkes radio telescope in Australia to scan the heavens, representatives of the ambitious, decade-long project announced Monday (Nov.7).

Parkes, Narrabri radio telescopes to be upgraded to improve Space Connect

The Parkes dish becomes the third telescope to be employed by Breakthrough Listen, joining the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and the Automated Planet Finder at Lick Observatory in Northern California


"The addition of Parkes is an important milestone," billionaire entrepreneur Yuri Milner, founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives, which include Breakthrough Listen, said in a statement. "These major instruments are the ears of planet Earth, and now they are listening for signs of other civilizations."

The Parkes radio telescope can tilt 60° from vertical and would take 15 minutes to perform a 360° rotation. photo: wikipedia.org

The first Breakthrough Listen observations for the Parkes dish came Monday, when scientists turned the telescope toward the Proxima Centauri star system to look for possible signals from alien civilizations.

Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the sun, lying just 4.2 light-years away from Earth's star. This past August, astronomers announced the discovery of an Earth-size planet orbiting in Proxima Centauri's "habitable zone," the just-right range of distances where liquid water could exist on a world's surface.

It's therefore possible that the planet, known as Proxima b, may be capable of supporting life as we know it, scientists have said.

"The chances of any particular planet hosting intelligent life-forms are probably minuscule," Andrew Siemion, director of the University of California, Berkeley's SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Research Center, said in the same statement.

"But once we knew there was a planet right next door, we had to ask the question, and it was a fitting first observation for Parkes," Siemion added. "To find a civilization just 4.2 light-years away would change everything."

Proxima Centauri is also the target of Breakthrough Starshot, a Breakthrough Initiatives effort that aims to blast tiny, sail-equipped "nanoprobes" toward the system at 20 percent the speed of light using powerful lasers. Milner and a group of researchers, including famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking, announced Breakthrough Listen in July 2015. Over the next 10 years, the $100 million endeavor aims to search the 1 million stars closest to the sun, as well as the 100 nearest galaxies to the Milky Way, for possible SETI signals.

The 210-foot-wide (64 meters) Parkes dish, which is operated by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), lies near the town of Parkes, in the state of New South Wales. The radio telescope famously helped relay live video of the Apollo 11 moon landing back to Earth in July 1969, a role featured in the 2000 film "The Dish."

Breakthrough Listen representatives also announced last month that the project would be teaming up with China's new Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) — the world's largest radio telescope — to coordinate SETI observations.


Other articles on the same theme:

• After 20 years of work and billions of dollars spent, the gigantic NASA space telescope is completed. It has gold plated mirrors and is 100 times more powerful than Hubble

• An unusual signal was obtained by Russian astronomers. It may have extraterrestrial origins

• 10 fascinating planets outside the Solar System

• It was created the most complex map of the Milky Way . It shows that our galaxy is much more extensive than previously thought

Story source:


The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Space . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

A new study supports the possibility of life on Mars

In a new study published in the journal Astrobiology were analyzed in the course of forty years on the Red Planet. They believe that the existence of microbial life on Mars is possible.

The research is based on experiments carried out by the Labeled Release (LR) using Viking Mars probe landing, at the end of 1970. LR was created to search for chemicals produced by living organisms. The probe found several chemicals, according to the authors compiling the report in 1976, Gilbert Levin and Patricia Ann Straat. However, the results were classified as inconclusive.

The same researchers have worked on the new study reviewed information provided by Viking, combining them with recent results from missions of discovery of water on Mars. Experts have concluded that biological hypothesis is still valid.

In the experiments conducted by the LR, Mars soil samples were inoculated with a drop of a diluted nutrient solution attached to a radioactive carbon isotope. Air above the sample was monitored, and scientists have detected radioactive isotopes in samples of carbon dioxide. When they repeated the experiment, a week away, they found the same phenomenon.

Alternative hypothesis suggests that there is an oxidizing agent that changes in the carbon dioxide compound. The same results can be observed in the case of peroxide compound.

Although evidence from Viking ,, not provide sufficient evidence of life on Mars, the paper highlights the fact that there is such a possibility, '' said Chris McKay, Editor in NASA Ames Research Center in California.


Other articles on the same theme:

• NASA announced the next mission to Mars
• Elon Musk announced great mission on Mars. When it launches and what purpose
• Water existed on Mars billions of years before scientists about the phenomenon
• Mars could support extraterrestrial life. A new image published by the European Space Agency shows the place that would have hosted life

Source:  IFL Science

Mars could support extraterrestrial life. A new image published by the European Space Agency shows the place that would have hosted life

The European Space Agency has revealed a new image of a valley on the Red Planet which in future could be landing site ExoMars mission in 2020.

The area has photographed over 5309 square meters and is surrounded Mawrth Vallis valley where ancient water on the surface structured forms that can be observed today. The researchers believe that this valley would have existed 3.6 billion years ago life.

Mawrth Vallis valley has a length of 600 kilometers, its depth is almost one kilometer. A long time ago, huge quantities of water passing through the area. The valley is located between the southern and the northern hilly plains, according to ESA.

Structures with lighter tones of color are made of clay minerals, indicating the presence of liquid water. According to NASA, the remains of volcanic ash in the form of ancient microbes may protect black rocks of clay. To create this image, the researchers combined nine images taken by high resolution camera probe Express.

The ship orbited the red planet in 2003, Mawrth Vallis and the valley was an important point of interest. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Mars was covered by a network of lakes and rivers with a billion years earlier than scientists had thought, which implies that Mars could support life. ,, I discovered valleys that would transport the water to the basins of lakes, '' said Sharon Wilson, Institutlui of the Smithsonian, Washington.

Wilson and his team have helped these conclusions through evidence uncovered in northern plant, Arabia Terra region.


,, One of the lakes in the region can be compared in volume with Lake Tahoe in California, Nevada, '' said Wilson

Source: Descopera

Was Venus Once A Habitable World Like Earth?

Experts assume that traces habitable landforms would have disappeared after a few hundred million years.

Until now, attention to the search for a habitable planet was focused on Mars, since it is assumed that it had a structure similar to Earth. There are, however, argue that we should take into account other variables such as, for example, Venus.

In a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a team of American researchers simulated the appearance that supposedly had a Venus, recreating how its surface showed, but the amounts of sunlight that reached here. The experiment results have led scientists to conclude that the planet was habitable in 2.9 billion years ago and 715 million years before, because here there is a temperature and water surfaces similar to those on Terra.

However, no evidence was found so far to indicate the presence of water on the surface of Venus, as it happens, for example, in the case of Mars. Here, researchers have identified the fingerprints of former rivers and oceans and believe that such structures could be found on Venus, but they were reshaped during volcanic activity occurred ago over 700 million years.

Experts have assumed, since Venus there was a habitable environment, should not exclude the possibility that there existed forms of life: ,, Both planets have oceans where water might have come into contact with rocks and organic molecules, giving rise to chemical processes. From what we know so far, these are the conditions that make possible the emergence of life, "says David Grinspoon, one of the coordinators of the study conducted by the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona.

Although Venus was habitable for nearly 2 billion years, it is uncertain whether complex life forms could have developed during this period. In this regard, we are given the example of the Earth, where the development of complex organisms lasted about 3 billion years.

Even if the history of living on Venus could be considered, scientists say, however, that we need much more information to reach a conclusion in this regard

Other articles on the same theme:

• How life emerged on Earth? The old theory is removed

• Mars could support extraterrestrial life. A new image published by the European Space Agency shows the place that would have hosted life

• 10 fascinating planets outside the Solar System

• Cloudy days on exoplanets may hide atmospheric water

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by iflscience.com . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

The newfound alien world named HD 131399Ab

The newfound alien world, named HD 131399Ab, resides in the HD 131399 system, about 320 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus.

Its orbit around HD 131399A, the brightest of the three stars, is by far the widest known within a multi-star system. Such orbits are often unstable, because of the complex and changing gravitational attraction from the other two stars in the system, and planets in stable orbits were thought to be very unlikely.

“For about half of the planet’s orbit, which lasts 550 Earth-years, three stars are visible in the sky,” said team member Kevin Wagner, from the University of Arizona.

“The fainter two stars are always much closer together, and change in apparent separation from the brightest star throughout the year.”

The astronomers estimate that HD 131399Ab is at least four times as massive as Jupiter and has a surface temperature of around 1,076 degrees Fahrenheit (580 degrees Celsius).

The planet is approximately 16 million years old, making it also one of the youngest exoplanets discovered to date, and one of very few directly imaged planets.

“HD 131399Ab is one of the few exoplanets that have been directly imaged, and it’s the first one in such an interesting dynamical configuration,” said team member Dr. Daniel Apai, also from the University of Arizona.

“The fainter two stars are always much closer together, and change in apparent separation from the brightest star throughout the year.”

The astronomers estimate that HD 131399Ab is at least four times as massive as Jupiter and has a surface temperature of around 1,076 degrees Fahrenheit (580 degrees Celsius).

The planet is approximately 16 million years old, making it also one of the youngest exoplanets discovered to date, and one of very few directly imaged planets.

“HD 131399Ab is one of the few exoplanets that have been directly imaged, and it’s the first one in such an interesting dynamical configuration,” said team member Dr. Daniel Apai, also from the University of Arizona.

Although repeated observations will be needed to precisely determine the trajectory of HD 131399Ab, VLT observations and simulations seem to suggest the following scenario:

(i) HD 131399A is orbited by the less massive stars, HD 131399B and HD 131399C, at about 300 astronomical units (AU);

(ii) HD 131399B and HD 131399C twirl around each other like a spinning dumbbell, separated by a distance roughly equal to that between the Sun and Saturn (10 AU);

(iii) the planet HD 131399Ab travels around the host star HD 131399A in an orbit with a radius of about 80 AU, about twice as large as Pluto’s in the Solar System, and brings the planet to about one third of the separation between star HD 131399A and the HD 131399B/C star pair.

Sourrce; sci-news

Back to Europa! ALIEN OCEAN NEXT NASA'S MISSION TO EUROPA

Updated: 28/04/2020  

Possible Life similarities between Jupiter's moon Europa and depths of the Oceans on Earth

NASA’s next mission back to Jupiter’s moon Europa just took another big step towards reality. The next phase of Europa Clipper has been confirmed, giving the go-ahead for the mission to proceed to final design, construction and testing.

“We are all excited about the decision that moves the Europa Clipper mission one key step closer to unlocking the mysteries of this ocean world,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are building upon the scientific insights received from the flagship Galileo and Cassini spacecraft and working to advance our understanding of our cosmic origin, and even life elsewhere.”

Europa Clipper will be the first spacecraft to study Europa up close since Galileo in the early 2000s, and will focus on determining the habitability of the moon’s global subsurface ocean. That ocean is thought to be quite similar to oceans on Earth, although it is completely covered by an outer ice crust. But thanks to previous studies, scientists know that it is salty with a rocky ocean bottom likely rich in chemical nutrients that life could use for food and energy. There may even be hydrothermal activity similar to the vents on the ocean bottoms of Earth. Such hot spots can be an oasis for a wide variety of life forms, even at great depths with no light.

Below Europa’s cold, icy surface lies a deep, salty liquid water ocean which could be home to some form of life. Image Credit: Britney Schmidt/Dead Pixel VFX/Univ. of Texas at Austin

That ocean makes Europa one of the best places in the Solar System to search for evidence of extraterrestrial life, along with Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which although smaller, also has a global subsurface ocean under its icy surface.

Artist’s conception of the Europa lander, which had been considered as part of the Europa Clipper mission, but now will probably be a follow-up mission at a later date. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Enceladus has huge water vapor plumes that erupt from cracks in the surface near the south pole. The Cassini spacecraft sampled those plumes directly and found they contain water, salts and both simple and complex organic molecules. The plumes originate from the ocean below, so this analysis provides clues as to the conditions in the ocean and how habitable it is. Enceladus’ ocean also appears to be very similar to Earth’s oceans, and there is even more evidence for active hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.

An example of possible spectroscopy results from the James Webb Space Telescope of one of Europa’s water vapor plumes. Image Credit: NASA-GSFC/SVS/Hubble Space Telescope/Stefanie Milam/Geronimo Villanueva

Europa may also have similar plumes, but they have been more difficult to confirm since they seem to be smaller and more intermittent. New evidence for them from the Hubble Space Telescope was announced last year, however. Americaspace


ALIEN OCEAN NEXT NASA'S MISSION TO EUROPA

SAN FRANCISCO — There's a good chance that NASA's highly anticipated Europa mission will do much more than just fly by the ocean-harboring Jupiter moon.

NASA has already selected the nine primary science instruments for the Europa (moon) spacecraft, whose core mission involves performing dozens of flybys to gauge the Jovian satellite's life-hosting potential. But the probe should be able to accommodate an additional 550 lbs. (250 kilograms) of payload, and NASA would rather not let that "excess" go to waste.

"There's a variety of things that we can do," Jim Green, the head of NASA's Planetary Science division, said here Tuesday (Dec. 15) during a town hall presentation at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). "Perhaps plume probes, perhaps penetrators, or even a small lander." [Europa May Harbor Simple Life-Forms (Video)]





There's no guarantee that any additional instruments or miniprobes will make it onboard the Europa spacecraft. But the smart money may be on one or two ultimately being selected.

"We're pretty hot on doing something," Green told Space.com after his presentation.

The 1,900-mile-wide (3,100 kilometers) Europa is regarded as one of the solar system's best bets to host alien life. Though Europa is covered by an ice shell perhaps 50 miles (80 km) thick, the satellite also harbors a huge subsurface ocean that contains more water than all of Earth's seas combined.

This ocean is in contact with Europa's rocky mantle, making possible a range of interesting and complex chemical reactions, researchers say.

The $2 billion Europa mission, which does not have an official name yet, aims to investigate the habitability of the moon and its ocean.

The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in the early to mid-2020s and reach the Jupiter system 8 years later, if a "standard" rocket such as United Launch Alliance's Atlas V serves as the launch vehicle. (Using NASA's in-development Space Launch System megarocket would slash the travel time to 3 years or so, Green said.)

The probe would then perform 45 flybys of Europa over the next 2.5 years or so, studying the satellite with high-resolution cameras, a heat detector, ice-penetrating radar and other scientific gear.

None of the nine already-announced instruments were designed to hunt for signs of life. But it's possible that a small deployable plume probe — which would fly through putative plumes of water vapor near Europa's south pole, which were detected in December 2012 but have yet to be confirmed by follow-up observations — could carry life-detecting gear. So could a penetrator, which would slam into Europa's ice shell at high speeds, or a lander, which would touch down softly.

Europa's rough and rugged terrain — a complex jumble of big ice cliffs and crevasses — would make a soft landing extremely challenging, Green said, and surface work would be tough in the moon's high-radiation environment (though radiation levels aren't uniform across Europa, and analyses suggest that a lander could operate for extended periods in some locales, Green added).


We'll all just have to wait and see if NASA will add these challenges to its Europa to-do list.

Over the centuries, Europa, the most luminous of all the Galilean moons, has provided an abundance of mysteries. These culminated in what may have been a literal explosion in December 2012, when a cloud of water vapor was seen 20 miles over its south pole. This eruption was tiny on the cosmic scale, but enormous in its importance to astrobiology.

Notothenioidei is one of 18 + 1 new suborders from the order Perciformes and includes Antarctic icefish and sub-Antarctic fish. Notothenioids are distributed mainly throughout the Southern Ocean around the coasts of New Zealand, South America, and Antarctica

Evolution and geographic distribution

The Southern Ocean has supported fish habitats for 400 million years; however, modern notothenioids likely appeared sometime after the Eocene epoch. This period marked the cooling of the Southern Ocean, resulting in the stable, ice-cold conditions that have persisted to present day, excepting abrupt, rapid warming in the region in recent years. Another key factor in the evolution of notothenioids is the preponderance of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), a large, slow-moving current that extends to the seafloor and precludes most migration to and from the Antarctic region

Alien Antarctic Fish pixelx

These unique environmental conditions in concert with the key evolutionary innovation of Antifreeze glycoprotein promoted widespread radiation within the suborder, leading to the rapid development of new species wikipedia


Amphipod sand hopper

Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from 1 to 340 millimetres (0.039 to 13 in) and are mostly detritivores or scavengers.

There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far described. They are mostly marine animals, but are found in almost all aquatic environments. Some 1,900 species live in fresh water, and the order also includes terrestrial animals and sandhoppers such as Talitrus saltator.


The body of an amphipod is divided into 13 segments, which can be grouped into a head, a thorax and an abdomen. The head is fused to the thorax, and bears two pairs of antennae and one pair of sessile compound eyes. It also carries the mouthparts, but these are mostly concealed.

Diagram of the anatomy of the gammaridean amphipod Leucothoe incisa wikipedia

The thorax and abdomen are usually quite distinct and bear different kinds of legs; they are typically laterally compressed, and there is no carapace. The thorax bears eight pairs of uniramous appendages, the first of which are used as accessory mouthparts; the next four pairs are directed forwards, and the last three pairs are directed backwards. Gills are present on the thoracic segments, and there is an open circulatory system with a heart, using haemocyanin to carry oxygen in the haemolymph to the tissues. The uptake and excretion of salts is controlled by special glands on the antennae.

The abdomen is divided into two parts: the pleosome which bears swimming legs; and the urosome, which comprises a telson and three pairs of uropods which do not form a tail fan as they do in animals such as true shrimp. wikipedia



Anglerfish 

Anglerfishes are fish of the teleost order Lophiiformes.They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation, in which a fleshy growth from the fish's head (the esca or illicium) acts as a lure.

Some anglerfish are notable for extreme sexual dimorphism and sexual symbiosis of the small male with the much larger female, seen in the suborder Ceratioidei. In these species, males may be several orders of magnitude smaller than females.

Anglerfish occur worldwide. Some are pelagic (dwelling away from the sea floor), while others are benthic (dwelling close to the sea floor). Some live in the deep sea (e.g., Ceratiidae), while others on the continental shelf (e.g., the frogfishes Antennariidae and the monkfish/goosefish Lophiidae). Pelagic forms are most laterally compressed, whereas the benthic forms are often extremely dorsoventrally compressed (depressed), often with large upward-pointing mouths. wikipedia

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Mike Wall. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.â

10 fascinating planets outside the Solar System !

Extra-solar planets or exoplanets are planets located outside our solar system. When PSR1257 and PSR1257 + 12 B + 12 C (use uppercase for the first exoplanets discovered, as it was in force current terminology), and then 51 Pegasi b, the first exoplanet whose existence was confirmed, were discovered in the early 1990s, the success has been proclaimed as the most significant performance discovery in astronomy after Copernicus's heliocentric system.

51 Pegasi b discoverry

The allegations have created a tumult in the scientific world, reviving hopes of finding Earth-like planets, life forms probably outside the Solar System. Prior to these findings, the extrasolar planets were considered by astronomers known as non-existent, and their mere mention was fiction, so that no respectable scientist has not taken seriously until recently.

Since the advent of science exoplanetare study these celestial bodies evolved rapidly into a new branch of astronomy, cataloging more than 400 planets (30 of them documented in a single month, October 2009), only that many of them were in disappointingly, similar to the first: the hot gas giants orbiting close to their stars and revolutions taking only a few days.

The most plausible explanation for this is that the indirect method of detecting exoplanets is based on the hypothesis of the existence of massive objects with small orbital periods, which make them easy to identify. However, from time to time, with advanced technology and innovative methods, detection capability increases, so we have a few surprises:


The oldest planet

PSR B1620-26 b (found: May 30, 1993, state: July 10, 2003)
PSR B1620-26 b, nicknamed "Methuselah" after the famous biblical character who had lived nearly a thousand years, is the oldest exoplanet discovered with the age of 13 billion years. Considering that the universe itself does not exceed than 700 million years the leat, PSR B 1620 is likely to have even absolute record for the oldest existing planet.

Astronomical body was discovered in the center of what is called "globular cluster" of stars, cosmic entity made ​​up of the first stars formed immediately after the Big Bang. And based on what we know about planet formation, they are born shortly after the star around which orbits, so if exoplanet's star is as old as the universe, the planet gives him detour is characterized by a similar age .

PSR B1620-26 b 

PSR B1620-26 b photo: exoplanetkyoto.org

"Methuselah" was recognized as a planet only in 2003, confirming a sweet nectar dripped into the ears of planet hunters. The reason? If the planets could form as soon as the stars immediately after the Big Bang, also means that the universe is full of astronomical bodies waiting to be discovered.


The nearest exoplanet

Epsilon Eridani (Epsilon Eridani b, discovered on August 7, 2000)

It is situated at a distance of "only" ten light-years from Earth and is actually a system of planets, description employed and to define your own solar system. The name "Epsilon Eridani" stands for paternal star, or "sun" this "gear" cosmic, the composition of which is supposed to enter two worlds: one of them confirmed, Epsilon Eridani b, and the other not certified yet, Epsilon Eridani C.

Epsilon Eridani System is Remarkably Similar to Our Own photo: Sci-News.com

Join all these form the nearest planetary system in the universe. The whole surrounding Epsilon Eridani is even two asteroid belts, one indoor, between Epsilon Eridani b and star, and the other outside, between EE b and e.e. c, plus a cosmic dust ring beyond the orbit of Epsilon Eridani c, resulting probably from the impact of two comets.

Exoplanets with most suns
Aquarii b (16 Nov 2003)

When it comes to planets, we are accustomed to viewing an image in which several such heavenly bodies revolve around the sun in an monostelar.

Well, it seems that, in fact, an impressive number - about 50% of cases - the stars we see in the night sky are star systems, or groups of two or more incandescent orbiting the common center their masses.

Naturally, the reason that our eyes perceive these compounds as single light dots is due to the huge distance that separates us from them. In the system there are five star 91 Aquarii.

In November 2003, it was discovered that a gas giant planet orbiting the star 91 Aquarii the main planet is named 91 Aquarii Ab so that it can be distinguished from stars in the system, leaving room for possible undiscovered planets in the same gear.

Gas giant is special because detection methods surrounded by stars exoplanets requires absolute precision - often futile anyway - so by the 91 Aquarii Ab is one of the few planets discovered in such conditions.

Infrared detector of NASA's Space Telescope Spitzer found substantial amounts of rock evaporated together with the solidified lava fragments, known as Tekt and is formed generally as a result of impacts from meteorites.

However, the existence of such material in a quantity enough to block the glow of a star indicates a greater impact, as only a planetary collision could be.

According to this discovery, interplanetary collisions are not so unusual a phenomenon in the universe, supporting it by default, and the widespread theory that the Earth's moon itself appeared as a result of a similar event in the distant past. Moreover, computer simulations have predicted the possibility of future collisions in our solar system sometime in the next three billion years.

Twin planet to Earth
Gliese 581g (discovered in September 2010)

Recently discovered Gliese 581g, a planet the size of Earth, located in the habitable zone of its star, could host liquid water can be a life environment. If suspicions were confirmed, I have to do with the planet most similar to Earth and also the first case of alien orb with potential for human habitat.

Successful discovery of Gliese 581g is based on 11 years of scrutinizing the cosmos made ​​with the WM Observatory Keck in Hawaii. The performance started with the discovery astronomers red dwarf Gliese 581, two new planets orbit.

Among these, the most interesting turned Gliese 581g, with a mass three to four times that of Earth and a revolution period of only 37 days. Estimates indicate that its mass is probably about a solid planet with a definite surface and that it has sufficient gravitational force to maintain an atmosphere.

The planet is to its star, somehow, what is Terra Luna in that rotation around its axis of Gliese 581g coincinde to revolve the planet, so it is a hemisphere permanently facing light the other is forever steeped in gloom.

Researchers estimate that the average temperature of the outer body surface ranges between -31 and -12 degrees Celsius. Of course, absolute temperatures range from the mid from Star heat and cold on the dark surface.

The gravity of the surface of Gliese 581g may be similar or greater than that of the loose earth, such that a person would easily be able to move on two feet on the surface of the planet.

Super-Earth covered by lava
COROT-7b (found on 3 February 2009)

European astronomers discovered by COROT satellite, a Super Earth several times more massive than Earth, only 475 light years from Earth.

Researchers claim that the exoplanet, named COROT-Exo-7b is not yet even the most pleasant place to visit. Although at first glance, there is water on Exo-7b, this is a borderline state between gas and liquid due to the huge mass of lava that covers celestial body.

It is possible that the Exo-7b have been a frozen planet that has migrated through its own solar system, turning, upon heating, a huge water planet. Most likely, it was formed inside a gas giant, as appropriate Earth, Venus, Mercury and Mars. It is almost certain, however, that Exo-7b is in the same situation it was in the earth immediately after its formation, many experts believe.

The first planet photographed
Fomalhaut b (discovered on 13 November 2008)

Direct observation of exoplanets is so difficult that was compared with the pursuit of flying insects in the right of a reflector in a hazy day, from a distance of several kilometers. For this reason, the first image of a planet that is outside our solar system captured by Hubble, is paramount.

Called Fomalhaut b, exoplanet is the size of Jupiter, and a possible ring system orbiting the star Fomalhaut. Astronomers inferred its existence since 2005, based on gravitational forces in the area, but it is the first case in which they failed to achieve a proper picture.
Visibility on Fomalhaut b is hampered by a ring of dust surrounding the star that he owns.

 The latter has an age of 200 million years and is 16 times brighter than the Sun. Astronomers have approximated it will explode into a billion years in age rather than for a star. Although performance Hubble planet Fomalhaut b would have remained hidden had it not been so wide orbit around its star.

SurvivorV391 Pegasi b (discovered in March 2007)

This gas giant was found orbiting a white dwarf - a sort of dead star - which means that at some point in the past, during the red giant phase of the star (a red giant is a large dying star, preceding phase transformation into white dwarf) planet must have reached the surface of the sun or even have them inside your body orbiting astronomical dying.

Planet Survivor photo: Science News for Students

It is an event that is likely the planets of our solar system, including Earth, it is believed that our sun will enter the red giant phase sometime in the next five billion years, increasing its volume possible until assimilate orbits close to him, researchers believe that the sun could reach even to the orbit of Mars now.

Normally, many planets as "occupied" can fall apart, but others can keep the structure unchanged, as is the case of V391 Pegasi b, baptized, therefore, survivor. However, even if the earth will prove the same strength and survive in the sun become a red giant, its surface will be completely sterilized of huge temperatures.

Another gas giant "special" in the sense that its orbital plane aligns perfectly with our vision, so can be seen from Earth, the planet HD209458 b

Movement of "transition" of the planet through the right side to its star that we oriented afford to accurately calculate a size - by analyzing the amount of starlight blocked - and more importantly, to determine its atmospheric composition spectroscopy study interaction between radiation and matter (in this case, the interaction of gases and vapors in the atmosphere of the planet and its sun starlight).

Hubble measures atmospheric structure of extrasolar planet HD 209458b photo: ESA/Hubble

With this method, researchers have detected the presence of sodium and, more recently, in October 2009, and that of water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane in the upper atmosphere of the planet. This is the second astronomical body which was found to possess organic compounds, HD 189733 b was the first planet discovered by humans which is characterized by it.

First 'Super-Earth'

Mu Arae c (discovered on 25 August 2004)

The planet's first "super-Earth" (or large rocky exoplanet) found, has brought researchers closer to discovering Earth-like planets outside the Solar System.

A "super-Earth" is defined as an exoplanet with mass between the Earth and the giant planets in our solar system. Why are these planets are considered to be "rock"? Weak gravitational force of an object the size of Earth materials tends to attract mainly massive, dense (rock and metal), and much less light materials such as gases, which are easily scattered radiation of astronomical phenomena such as stars, escape atmospheric or strong impacts with asteroids.

As this solid protoplanet increases, reaching a mass close to that of Jupiter's gravitational pull allows you to draw more objects on its surface and take captive the light gases, thus creating a spiral will turn in finally, another giant planet gas.

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