New Planet System Found—May Have Hidden "Super Earth"

[Nanobyte]

I happened to watch the news, and I saw they found a new planet! LIKE WOW!
But no, they haven't actually seen the planet directly, they think it's there because a star moves in a certain way. Really weird!

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/250/cache/kepler-9-new-planets_25047_600x450.jpg



A newly discovered planetary system orbiting a sunlike star may conceal a rare super-Earth (http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/earth.html), according to data from NASA's Kepler space telescope (http://kepler.nasa.gov/).
Launched last March, Kepler was designed to look for extrasolar planets, aka exoplanets, via transits—the periodic dimming of light from stars due to planets passing in front them, as seen from the telescope's vantage point. (Read about Kepler's first planet discoveries (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100104-new-planets-kepler-nasa.html).)
After analyzing seven months' worth of data from Kepler, a team led by Matt Holman (https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/%7Emholman/) of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics found two transiting exoplanets orbiting the star Kepler-9, which lies about 2,300 light-years from Earth.
Read full article! (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/08/100826-science-space-new-planets-discovered-earth-nasa-kepler/)

[Skylar1]

The problem with the "wobbling star" technique is that it's really good at finding gas giants, while smaller rocky planets go mostly undetected.

There have been a good deal of planetary systems found already, so that's not excatly something that's "new". Still, the chances of spotting a planet that could harbor life is nonetheless exciting.

[Wio]

Space is hell.

[Nanobyte]

Who knows?
If aliens excisted, THAT would be cool.
I doubt they'd be as advanced as we are though, otherwise they might have found us first. =T

[Wio]

We already know that aliens exist. You can find them all over southern California.

Also, there's no point in trying to compare aliens to human beings until you actually find one.

[SigmaSD]

Who knows?
If aliens excisted, THAT would be cool.
I doubt they'd be as advanced as we are though, otherwise they might have found us first. =T


Well humans haven't been around very long if you think about it. Compared the the Earth's age its like a blink of an eye. Who knows, maybe an extraterrestrial life form emerged somewhere and has managed to accomplish more than we have. We'll never know, seeing as how traveling a couple of light years is impossible in a blink of an eye. The only way we'll ever be able to explore distant planets is if for some reason humans manage to use wormholes, but only if they exist/ are possible.

[Haoie]

Does this super-Earth have any supermen?

That'd be cool.

[Armageddon]

The problem with the "wobbling star" technique is that it's really good at finding gas giants, while smaller rocky planets go mostly undetected.

There have been a good deal of planetary systems found already, so that's not excatly something that's "new". Still, the chances of spotting a planet that could harbor life is nonetheless exciting.

~ Bazinga!

[Albear]

Yeah if the supermen exists in the superearth (assuming its like earth with the gravitational strength of Vegeta), then we are all screwed.
If they hate us that is.

[Nanobyte]

And if they like us, we could bond together and fight terrorists! ...
But what if the terrorists bond with the supermen.... or the supermen ARE terrorists....
D:

[blueangel06661]

1. They find stuff all the time... You only see one article about it... Then wonder if they were wrong about it since there's nothing else after it.

2. Theres some other life form without a doubt. No one can seriously think that what ever inhabits earth is the ONLY thing out there.. We are just a grain of sand in an entire galaxy.

[DOOM!]

I didn't feel like reading the article. It didn't sound interesting enough.

[Nanobyte]

I didn't feel like reading the article. It didn't sound interesting enough.

Then don't post, because this is spam. -_-

@blueangel06661 (http://www.animeforum.com/member.php?u=101731): I've seen stuff on TV about earth being in the optimal position for life. One mile out of our course around the sun, and we would freeze to death/burn to death.
This is why I believe in god too. The world is too complex and perfect to be formed by coincidence.

[TomoyoSakagami]

Still, the chances of spotting a planet that could harbor life is nonetheless exciting.

Yes, oh how wondrous it would be. I would worry though how the government would react though. War? Capture them for tests? Oh being friends is certainly out the question.

[Skylar1]

Well humans haven't been around very long if you think about it. Compared the the Earth's age its like a blink of an eye. Who knows, maybe an extraterrestrial life form emerged somewhere and has managed to accomplish more than we have.
Well, consider this:

The Universe it's self, is 14.3 billion years old
The Earth is 4 Billion years old

That's about how long it took (having near perfect conditions being maintained. Meaning we weren't consistently being bombarded with problems that plague space) just for life to form and go on to evolve to us. Point being, it takes a loooooong time for intelligent life to form.


Does this super-Earth have any supermen?

That'd be cool.
It all depends on what evolutionary path the life took to adapt to it's environment. They could turn out to be supermen, but then again, they could just be grunting beasts that savage for food in packs.




2. Theres some other life form without a doubt. No one can seriously think that what ever inhabits earth is the ONLY thing out there.. We are just a grain of sand in an entire galaxy.
It has a lot to do with probability. The fact that the universe is so huge, "winning the lottery" for life isn't something so impossible.

Also, see the Drake Equation



This is why I believe in god too. The world is too complex and perfect to be formed by coincidence.


Well, consider the theoretical physics of it. If you look at the string theory landscape along with the anthropic principle, life is not very remarkable.

[Nanobyte]

Well, consider the theoretical physics of it. If you look at the string theory landscape along with the anthropic principle, life is not very remarkable.

Are you crazy? O_o
I don't see you creating life...

[Skylar1]

Are you crazy? O_o
I don't see you creating life...

I'm not really sure what you mean by that.. o.O

Care to elaborate?

[Anoleis]

Personally I'm not going to worry about extraterrestrials until they come to us. I'm more looking forward to the colonization of the moon and or Mars~

[Mrmojorisin74]

news about finding a new planet is not all that surprising, astronomers find planets all the time. My question is, how do they really know what these planets are composed of and what they look like? I can imagine that a lot of discovered planets look nothing like our scientists interpretation of them.

[Izzy Stizzlebonk]

I wish I can miraculously build a rocket ship that can travel 2,300 light years in a hour, so I can visit this Super Earth and other potential Earths.

"Why, Izzy? Why would you do such a thing?"

There's probably intergalactic cookies out there. Probability is just way too high, potentially.

[TheThunderBringer]

I read somewhere (and know about string theory/the multiverse) that it's statistically impossible for their NOT to be life on other planets.

Still, actually being able to find some would be cool, lol.

[Eris]

Statistically impossible is an oxymoron, and string theory has yet to produce any useful verifiable claims, and is thus no different from religion at this state.

[Light Buster]

Well then, we'll have a new place to go just in case everything goes downhill from here.

[Skylar1]

Statistically impossible is an oxymoron, and string theory has yet to produce any useful verifiable claims, and is thus no different from religion at this state.
I knew for certain that you were going to rawr rawr in here.

So I prepared a question for the occasion: What 'useful' parts of the (current) theory do you personally like, if any?

[Eris]

I do know the current theories are a horrible mess that don't fit together and almost certainly are wrong in certain limits, but at least they make predictions. And that's the only useful part I require of any theory.

String Theory is a nice diversion, but until it gets it's act together, it should not be taken seriously.

[DOOM!]

Then don't post, because this is spam. -_-

No, it's my opinion on the discussed matter. So, there.