Hasta La Gadget!

The Thirty Meter Telescope has been under development for more than a decade, but the sheer amount of land needed on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea for its namesake main mirror has proved problematic: locals have formally challenged the multi-university effort over concerns that it might damage both the environment and natives’ heritage. Regardless of which stance you take on the issue, the project is going forward now that the state’s Board of Land and Natural Resources has granted an official land permit. The move clears an optical and near-infrared telescope with nine times the coverage area of its peers, and three times the sharpness. That’s enough to observe light from 13 billion years ago as well as put a heavy focus on tracking extrasolar planets, including planets in the making. Any impact on science or Mauna Kea will have to wait when construction doesn’t even start until April 2014, although we’re hoping that environmental care requirements attached to the permit will let us appreciate both the early universe and modern-day Earth in equal measure.

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Via: Pacific Business News

Source: Thirty Meter Telescope

Over 47 million light years away, in a galaxy called NGC 4845, there’s one hungry black hole. In fact, scientists have watched in awe as, soon after it stirred from dormancy, it chomped away at a planet 30 times the mass of Jupiter. More »

NASA’s Kepler telescope is permanently on the lookout for celestial objects of interest, and its latest discovery is a small one. A small planet, to be exact — in fact, the smallest its encountered during its search. Kepler-37b is a tad larger than our heavenly dance partner, the Moon, and whizzes round a star much like our Sun, with two larger planets in its system for company. NASA’s issuing back pats all round, as finding Kepler-37b has highlighted “the precision of the Kepler instrument” (although admittedly, the star’s behavior was favorable), and suggests there are many more humble worlds of similar size awaiting our detection. It’s unlikely any aliens call Kepler-37b home: it’s thought to be rocky, with no atmosphere, and hugs its sun in a 13-day orbit cycle, meaning surface temperature is terribly high. Still, an achievement for Kepler, no doubt, but what we really want it to find is a planet home to beings who can explain the plot-line of Prometheus. We’re still a little confused.

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Via: The Verge

Source: NASA

Finding planets that are similar to Earth is a task that scientists and researchers have been working on for a while now, but it seems like they’re making great strides in their findings. Astronomers have reported that the nearest Earth-like planet is possibly just 13 light-years away (77 trillion miles).

However, said planet hasn’t been located yet, but based on the team’s extensive study of red dwarf stars, they believe it’s there. According to their research, 60% of the galaxy’s most ubiquitous stars most likely host planets that are smaller than Neptune, and about 6% of them host Earth-sized planets that are orbiting in the “Goldilocks” zone, where life is may be possible.

While 13 light-years may seem ridiculous, astronomers say that this nearest Earth-like planet is just right next door, based on the overall size of the universe. According to lead author and Harvard University grad student Courtney Dressing, if the Milky Way galaxy was shrunk to the size of the US, the distance between Earth and the closest Earth-like planet would be the span of Central Park in New York City.

However, while these planets may be “Earth-like,” they’re possibly quite different than Earth because of the differences between their red dwarf stars and our sun. Plus, these planets could be far older than our solar system, meaning that any potential life forms on these planets could be much more evolved than on Earth. Our solar system is around 4.5 billion years old, while the nearest Earth-like planet is possibly 12 billion years old.

Scientists and astronomers say that the closest planet is just within reach, and future spacecrafts may be able to locate these planets and provide some vital information that would advance what we know about life on other planets. These latest findings are based on data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, which launched in 2009.

[via ABC News]

Nearest Earth-like planet only 13 light-years away is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Astronomers have long theorized that there are many planets that have drifted away from their home stars, whether it’s a too-loose gravitational pull during the planet’s formation or a stellar tug-of-war. We’ve never had a reasonable chance of locating such a wanderer until today, however. The University of Montreal believes it has spotted CFBDSIR2149, an awkwardly-named gas giant four to seven times larger than Jupiter, floating by itself in the AB Doradus Moving Group of young stars. Scientists made the discovery first by pinpointing their target through infrared images from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, and later using the Very Large Telescope to deduce that the object was both too small to be a star as well as hot and young enough (752F and under 120 million years old) to fit the behavior of a planet orphaned early into its existence. With CFBDSIR2149’s nature largely locked down, the challenge now is learning just how common such lonely examples can be; when it’s much easier to focus on the stars while hunting for planets, finding any more strays could prove to be a daunting task.

Continue reading University of Montreal detects an orbitless planet, shows that stars don’t have an iron grip (video)

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University of Montreal detects an orbitless planet, shows that stars don’t have an iron grip (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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