Smallest Solar System Found
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mk23666
Jan 26, 2012, 8:15:37 AM1/26/12
to Dark Star Planet X
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/11jan_smallestexoplanets/
Kepler Discovers a Tiny Solar System Jan. 11, 2012: Astronomers using
data from NASA's Kepler mission have discovered the three smallest
planets yet detected orbiting a star beyond our sun. The planets orbit
a single star, called KOI-961, and are 0.78, 0.73 and 0.57 times the
radius of Earth. The smallest is about the size of Mars.
"This is the tiniest solar system found so far," said John Johnson,
the principal investigator of the research from NASA's Exoplanet
Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena. "It's actually more similar to Jupiter and its moons in
scale than any other planetary system. The discovery is further proof
of the diversity of planetary systems in our galaxy."
This artist's concept depicts an itsy bitsy planetary system -- so
compact, in fact, that it's more like Jupiter and its moons than a
star and its planets. Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler
mission and ground-based telescopes recently confirmed that the
system, called KOI-961, hosts the three smallest exoplanets known so
far to orbit a star other than our sun. [more]
All three planets are thought to be rocky like Earth, but orbit close
to their star. That makes them too hot to be in the habitable zone,
which is the region where liquid water could exist. Of the more than
700 planets confirmed to orbit other stars -- called exoplanets --
only a handful are known to be rocky.
"Astronomers are just beginning to confirm thousands of planet
candidates uncovered by Kepler so far," said Doug Hudgins, Kepler
program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington." Finding one as
small as Mars is amazing, and hints that there may be a bounty of
rocky planets all around us."
Kepler searches for planets by continuously monitoring more than
150,000 stars, looking for telltale dips in their brightness caused by
crossing, or transiting, planets. At least three transits are required
to verify a signal as a planet. Follow-up observations from ground-
based telescopes also are needed to confirm the discoveries.
The latest discovery comes from a team led by astronomers at the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The team used data
publicly released by the Kepler mission, along with follow-up
observations from the Palomar Observatory, near San Diego, and the
W.M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Their measurements
dramatically revised the sizes of the planets from what originally was
estimated.
The three planets are very close to their star, taking less than two
days to orbit around it. The KOI-961 star is a red dwarf with a
diameter one-sixth that of our sun, making it just 70 percent bigger
than Jupiter.
'Honey I Shrunk the Planetary System': This artist's concept compares
the KOI-961 planetary system to Jupiter and the largest four of its
many moons. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech [more]
Red dwarfs are the most common kind of star in our Milky Way galaxy.
The discovery of three rocky planets around one red dwarf suggests
that the galaxy could be teeming with similar rocky planets.
"These types of systems could be ubiquitous in the universe," said
Phil Muirhead, lead author of the new study from Caltech. "This is a
really exciting time for planet hunters."
For more information about the Kepler mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/kepler
Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
More Information
The discovery reported in this story follows a string of recent
milestones for the Kepler mission. In December 2011, scientists
announced the mission's first confirmed planet in the habitable zone
of a sun-like star: a planet 2.4 times the size of Earth called
Kepler-22b. Later in the month, the team announced the discovery of
the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our
solar system, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f.
For the latest discovery, the team obtained the sizes of the three
planets called KOI-961.01, KOI-961.02 and KOI-961.03 with the help of
a well-studied twin star to KOI-961, or Barnard's Star. By better
understanding the KOI-961 star, they then could determine how big the
planets must be to have caused the observed dips in starlight. In
addition to the Kepler observations and ground-based telescope
measurements, the team used modeling techniques to confirm the planet
discoveries.
Prior to these confirmed planets, only six other planets had been
confirmed using the Kepler public data.
Credits: NASA's Ames Research Center manages Kepler's ground system
development, mission operations and science data analysis. NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., managed Kepler mission
development. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo.,
developed the Kepler flight system and supports mission operations
with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the
University of Colorado in Boulder. The Space Telescope Science
Institute in Baltimore archives, hosts and distributes the Kepler
science data. Kepler is NASA's 10th Discovery Mission and is funded by
NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters.
Kepler Discovers a Tiny Solar System Jan. 11, 2012: Astronomers using
data from NASA's Kepler mission have discovered the three smallest
planets yet detected orbiting a star beyond our sun. The planets orbit
a single star, called KOI-961, and are 0.78, 0.73 and 0.57 times the
radius of Earth. The smallest is about the size of Mars.
"This is the tiniest solar system found so far," said John Johnson,
the principal investigator of the research from NASA's Exoplanet
Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena. "It's actually more similar to Jupiter and its moons in
scale than any other planetary system. The discovery is further proof
of the diversity of planetary systems in our galaxy."
This artist's concept depicts an itsy bitsy planetary system -- so
compact, in fact, that it's more like Jupiter and its moons than a
star and its planets. Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler
mission and ground-based telescopes recently confirmed that the
system, called KOI-961, hosts the three smallest exoplanets known so
far to orbit a star other than our sun. [more]
All three planets are thought to be rocky like Earth, but orbit close
to their star. That makes them too hot to be in the habitable zone,
which is the region where liquid water could exist. Of the more than
700 planets confirmed to orbit other stars -- called exoplanets --
only a handful are known to be rocky.
"Astronomers are just beginning to confirm thousands of planet
candidates uncovered by Kepler so far," said Doug Hudgins, Kepler
program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington." Finding one as
small as Mars is amazing, and hints that there may be a bounty of
rocky planets all around us."
Kepler searches for planets by continuously monitoring more than
150,000 stars, looking for telltale dips in their brightness caused by
crossing, or transiting, planets. At least three transits are required
to verify a signal as a planet. Follow-up observations from ground-
based telescopes also are needed to confirm the discoveries.
The latest discovery comes from a team led by astronomers at the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The team used data
publicly released by the Kepler mission, along with follow-up
observations from the Palomar Observatory, near San Diego, and the
W.M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Their measurements
dramatically revised the sizes of the planets from what originally was
estimated.
The three planets are very close to their star, taking less than two
days to orbit around it. The KOI-961 star is a red dwarf with a
diameter one-sixth that of our sun, making it just 70 percent bigger
than Jupiter.
'Honey I Shrunk the Planetary System': This artist's concept compares
the KOI-961 planetary system to Jupiter and the largest four of its
many moons. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech [more]
Red dwarfs are the most common kind of star in our Milky Way galaxy.
The discovery of three rocky planets around one red dwarf suggests
that the galaxy could be teeming with similar rocky planets.
"These types of systems could be ubiquitous in the universe," said
Phil Muirhead, lead author of the new study from Caltech. "This is a
really exciting time for planet hunters."
For more information about the Kepler mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/kepler
Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
More Information
The discovery reported in this story follows a string of recent
milestones for the Kepler mission. In December 2011, scientists
announced the mission's first confirmed planet in the habitable zone
of a sun-like star: a planet 2.4 times the size of Earth called
Kepler-22b. Later in the month, the team announced the discovery of
the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our
solar system, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f.
For the latest discovery, the team obtained the sizes of the three
planets called KOI-961.01, KOI-961.02 and KOI-961.03 with the help of
a well-studied twin star to KOI-961, or Barnard's Star. By better
understanding the KOI-961 star, they then could determine how big the
planets must be to have caused the observed dips in starlight. In
addition to the Kepler observations and ground-based telescope
measurements, the team used modeling techniques to confirm the planet
discoveries.
Prior to these confirmed planets, only six other planets had been
confirmed using the Kepler public data.
Credits: NASA's Ames Research Center manages Kepler's ground system
development, mission operations and science data analysis. NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., managed Kepler mission
development. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo.,
developed the Kepler flight system and supports mission operations
with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the
University of Colorado in Boulder. The Space Telescope Science
Institute in Baltimore archives, hosts and distributes the Kepler
science data. Kepler is NASA's 10th Discovery Mission and is funded by
NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters.
Alan Cornette
Jan 26, 2012, 11:09:25 AM1/26/12
to MK2...@aol.com, dark-star...@googlegroups.com
I certainly do not know much about the technicalities involved in Kepler's clarification of a planet, seemingly based on a stars varying brightness differential, but I'm wondering about variable stars, those that vary in their light entensity - a dimming and brightness cycle but not because of a planet passing in our line of sight in observing them. It is possible for variable stars to vary in brightness because of the surrounding, plasma- filled space through which they are traveling.
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mk23666
Jan 26, 2012, 11:40:33 AM1/26/12
to Dark Star Planet X
It is convenient to classify variable stars as belonging to one of two
types:
Intrinsic variables, whose luminosity actually changes; for example,
because the star periodically swells and shrinks.
Extrinsic variables, whose apparent changes in brightness are due to
changes in the amount of their light that can reach Earth; for
example, because the star has an orbiting companion that sometimes
eclipses it.
Even these two variable star types break down into several sub types
as well, but to answer your question from what I know about variables,
I would say yes. Also that this sort of star would fall under a sub
classification of the Intrinsic type known as an Eruptive Variable.
Eruptives seem to either be enveloped in a nebulous gas field and/or
are still in the process of settling down from their birth.
On Jan 26, 11:09 am, Alan Cornette <alancorne...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I certainly do not know much about the technicalities involved in Kepler's
> clarification of a planet, seemingly based on a stars
> varying brightness differential, but I'm wondering about variable stars,
> those that vary in their light entensity - a dimming and brightness cycle
> but not because of a planet passing in our line of sight in observing them.
> It is possible for variable stars to vary in brightness because of the
> surrounding, plasma- filled space through which they are traveling.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 8:15 AM, mk23666 <MK23...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> >http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/11jan_small...
> >http://groups.google.com/group/dark-star-planet-x?hl=en.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
types:
Intrinsic variables, whose luminosity actually changes; for example,
because the star periodically swells and shrinks.
Extrinsic variables, whose apparent changes in brightness are due to
changes in the amount of their light that can reach Earth; for
example, because the star has an orbiting companion that sometimes
eclipses it.
Even these two variable star types break down into several sub types
as well, but to answer your question from what I know about variables,
I would say yes. Also that this sort of star would fall under a sub
classification of the Intrinsic type known as an Eruptive Variable.
Eruptives seem to either be enveloped in a nebulous gas field and/or
are still in the process of settling down from their birth.
On Jan 26, 11:09 am, Alan Cornette <alancorne...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I certainly do not know much about the technicalities involved in Kepler's
> clarification of a planet, seemingly based on a stars
> varying brightness differential, but I'm wondering about variable stars,
> those that vary in their light entensity - a dimming and brightness cycle
> but not because of a planet passing in our line of sight in observing them.
> It is possible for variable stars to vary in brightness because of the
> surrounding, plasma- filled space through which they are traveling.
>
>
>
>
> >http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/11jan_small...
>
> - Show quoted text -
mk23666
Jan 26, 2012, 11:50:10 AM1/26/12
to Dark Star Planet X
Also ... Extrinsic Variables have a sub type that may fit your query
too, called the Rotating Variable Star. The magnetic fields change in
these types of stars and so if your plasma can effect the star's
magnetic field I'm sure (if it is a large enough effect) that you can
get changes in the star's brightness that way too.
too, called the Rotating Variable Star. The magnetic fields change in
these types of stars and so if your plasma can effect the star's
magnetic field I'm sure (if it is a large enough effect) that you can
get changes in the star's brightness that way too.
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