Upstream | October 19, 2009 | 38 comments

Found far away: 32 new planets

source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/6674403.html

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xiola
Astronomers have found 32 new planets outside our solar system, adding evidence to the theory that the universe has many places where life could develop.

Scientists using telescopes by the European Southern Observatory telescopes didn’t find any planets quite the size of Earth or any that seemed habitable or even unusual. But their announcement increased the number of planets discovered outside the solar system to more than 400.

Six of the newly found planets are several times bigger than Earth, increasing the population of so-called SuperEarths by more than 30 percent. Most planets discovered so far are far bigger, Jupiter-sized or even larger.

Two of the newly discovered planets were as small as five times the size of Earth and one was up to five times larger than Jupiter.

Astronomer Stephane Udry of the University of Geneva said the results support the theory that planet-formation is common, especially with certain type of common stars.

“I’m pretty confident that there are Earth-like planets everywhere,” Udry said in a Web-based news conference from a conference in Portugal. “Nature doesn’t like a vacuum. If there is space to put a planet there, there will be a planet there.”

What astronomers said is especially exciting is the high percentage — about half — of a type of star systems with relatively light stars that had planets around them. This is more than planet-formation theory expected, astronomers said. Two of the four planets found around these type stars were relatively close to Earth size, said astronomer Xavier Bonfils of Grenoble Observatory in France.

The discoveries were made by the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, which looks for slight wobbles in a star’s movements, which would be made by the tug of a planet’s gravity on the star. There are no photos of these planets.
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  2. tags:
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38 comments // Found far away: 32 new planets

  • Mr_Ben
  • Mark_White
    • 0
      Mark_White  

    • While I believe there exists other forms of life in the
      universe there may be races that are so far evolved
      (as compared to human beings) that our species
      is relatively "uninteresting". To these super civilizations we may seem like rudimentary bacteria
      .....not worth the time to study.

      Of course there may also be civilizations at various
      stages of advancement (compared to earthly beings)
      and that the vast size of the universe has not allowed
      any form of contact.....as yet. Hopefully we'll confirm
      with scientific proof the existence of life beyond our
      world in our own lifetimes.

    • 2 years ago
  • Mr_Ben
  • KSirys
  • Einsam_Data_Old
  • retro_Syl
  • superfinet
    • 0
      superfinet  

    • The principle used to find the planets is founded is physics, though this unfortunately does not allow us to view the planets directly, only validate their existence. As an investigative look at the systems we can observe, it helps to know what is typical. Thanks for research like this uncovering what is beyond our home system in the neighborhoods beyond. Our next endeavors might involve further remote satellites akin to the Voyager probes, to glimpse exoplanets in systems similar to Sol.

    • 2 years ago
  • artemis6
  • furryjenn
  • royulery
    • 0
      royulery  

    • space travel; if we can think it, it will come to pass.
      we should have colonies in our solar system already. it has been speculated by isaac asimov that one incident in history retarded our advancement by 1000 years, the destruction of the library of alexandria.

    • 2 years ago
  • SamuraiDave
  • picKFishStudios
  • 02
    • 0
      02  
    • picKFishStudios:

      It would be fun. But just as we wouldn't want some beings from another planet, dropping by and accidentally inoculating this place with a planet-killing biological pollutant, - we shouldn't be dropping into anywhere else.

      It all looks so pretty here - but we are a balanced and vast system. Any time you see a slight out-of balance, anywhere, you see some pretty ugly stuff.

      Think what might happen if viral fragments or other biological materials start getting wildly out of hand on, say, Mars? - The ugly green poison-planet for 10 million years?

    • 2 years ago
  • Bood
  • Argon18
  • Bombastic
  • Agent_Alpha
  • opekktur
  • maizein
  • FishaHouse777
  • keithponder
  • retro_Syl
  • Ragan
    • 0
      Ragan  

    • With all of the species of life on earth from Bacteria , virus's, ants, insects, Fowl's, mammals, reptiles and finally the Homo Sapien. There must be a million species at least, so there may be life on other planets, but there is no proof that it is intelligent as we know it. If their planet is double or more the size of earth, I could imagine their message to us; "Yankee go home". There is no reason that other life forms are so inclined to war and murder and ethnic cleansing and genocide. I would prefer that we stay here and complete the destruction we are so capable of meting out. Or if the other planet has a population that could teach our rulers how to be civilized and give up the killing and world crimes than I would just welcome such a force.

    • 2 years ago
  • 02
    • 0
      02  
    • Ragan:

      Once upon a time, certain chemicals started eating rock. After a while it became organized into a long, stringy animal. It then devised an ingenious plan to cheat death by growing little whiskers, each only about 30 thousand genes long and each of these would grow into a different animal-like thing and each of these secondary animal-like things thought they were THE cat's meeow. The males all stalk around with their chests out and the females compete for the best promise.

      This way (having all these secondary animals thinking the whole universe was made just for them and their little notions), when a volcano goes off or an asteroid wipes out 90% - as always happens - there'll be plenty of new secondary animals left to keep refreshing the landscape. Even though every one, obviously, are fools.

      This way, the one and only real animal on the planet can keep eating rocks, unabated.

    • 2 years ago
  • drewanium
  • Darevalo
  • dc133
    • 0
      dc133  

    • There is life out there... We are not the only ones created... There must be a complete human connection here on earth before we truly understand our existence... And reach another intelligent life force.

    • 2 years ago
  • blazedNconfused
  • 02
  • FishaHouse777
  • wayseeker
  • Argon18
  • RFIDemocracy
  • chippmunk
    • 0
      chippmunk  

    • This is pretty amazing stuff! Although we may not see much work done on them in our lifetimes, its nice to know that they are out there for future generations.

    • 2 years ago
  • Bombastic
  • Pedroptz
    • 0
      Pedroptz  

    • Udry said in a Web-based news conference from a conference in Portugal.

      portugalportugalportugalportugalportugalportugalportugalportugalportugalportugal x)

    • 2 years ago
  • sk8bs55
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