Image: ESO/M. Kornmesser
More than 50 new alien planets — including one so-called super-Earth that could potentially support life — have been discovered by an exoplanet-hunting telescope from the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
The newfound haul of alien planets includes 16 super-Earths, which are potentially rocky worlds that are more massive than our planet. One in particular - called HD 85512 b - has captured astronomers' attention because it orbits at the edge of its star's habitable zone, suggesting conditions could be ripe to support life.
The exoplanet findings came from observations from the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher instrument, or HARPS. The HARPS spectrograph is part of ESO's 11.8-foot (3.6-meter) telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. [Illustration and video of alien planet HD 85512 b]
"The harvest of discoveries from HARPS has exceeded all expectations and includes an exceptionally rich population of super-Earths and Neptune-type planets hosted by stars very similar to our sun," HARPS team leader Michel Mayor of the University of Geneva in Switzerland said in a statement. "And even better — the new results show that the pace of discovery is accelerating."
The potentially habitable super-Earth, officially called HD 85512 b, is estimated to be only 3.6 times more massive than Earth, and its parent star is located about 35 light-years away, making it relatively nearby. HD 85512 b was found to orbit at the edge of its star's habitable zone, which is a narrow region in which the distance is just right that liquid water could exist given the right conditions. [Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets]
"This is the lowest-mass confirmed planet discovered by the radial velocity method that potentially lies in the habitable zone of its star, and the second low-mass planet discovered by HARPS inside the habitable zone," said exoplanet habitability expert Lisa Kaltenegger, of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany and Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Boston.
Further analysis of HD 85512 b and the other newfound exoplanets will be able to determine more about the potential existence of water on the surface.
"I think we're in for an incredibly exciting time," Kaltenegger told reporters in a briefing today (Sept. 12). "We're not just going out there to discover new continents — we're actually going out there to discover brand new worlds." [Infographic: Alien Planet HD 85512 b Holds Possibility of Life]
The HARPS spectrograph is designed to detect tiny radial velocity signals induced by planets as small as Earth if they orbit close to their star.
Astronomers used HARPS to observe 376 sunlike stars. By studying the properties of all the alien planets detected by HARPS so far, researchers found that approximately 40 percent of stars similar to the sun is host to at least one planet that is less massive than the gas giant Saturn.
In other words, approximately 40 percent of sunlike stars have at least one low-mass planet orbiting around it. On the other hand, the majority of alien planets with a mass similar to Neptune appear to be in systems with multiple planets, researchers said.
Astronomers have previously discovered 564 confirmed alien planets, with roughly 1,200 additional candidate worlds under investigation based on data from the Kepler space observatory, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
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21 Comments
Add CommentThis might in retrospect be a big day. If we eventually settle this planet, I'm pretty sure the inhabitants will celebrate its "Discovery Day" (in addition to "First Landing Day")!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf we settle on this planet we'll be too weak to celebrate, what with a surface gravity several times (whatever) Earth's. We won't even have enough energy to roll around on the ground, much less jump up & down...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUnless we strap on a lift support suit like Darpas, then we could run jump and lift!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis doesn't have to be, depending on the planet's mass. Uranus is over 14.5 times the size of earth, but its gravity is about the same as Earth's, because it is not as dense. Even assuming an earth-like density, it's bigger radius would not produce a gravity 3.6 times as strong.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat if it's already inhabited?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@Jim89 If its already inhabited then we getting bragging right of getting to their planet before they got to ours! ;D
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAre you a commie, Jim? ;-)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAt 3.6 times the mass of the Earth one would not be able to use ones lungs to breath, let alone get off the bed without a spatula.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat's true - we can hope for Earth-like surface gravity...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOh yea that gravity thing is a big problem. How about the fact it would take about 340,000 years to get there with the fastest craft that we currently have that isn't fitted for human transport. The earliest known homo sapien on this planet is believed to have walked 200,000 yrs ago. So yea. You solve the transport problem the gravity thing would be peanuts in comparison.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGravity? Pogo sticks and helium balloons. Problem solved (and lots of laughs as a side benefit).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is one big news!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMany questions exist, but, i think we go exploring the news earths.
Maybe, we find intellegent life!
One doubt, the gravity of the news earth, is like our earth? Are oxigen to breathe?
Of course we cannot go there, but it's fun to speculate.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt would be a very different world. Gravity would be higher as some have noted above. We aren't given the size, only the mass.
Assuming the gravitational force constant doesn't change much based upon local density variation, and the mass of the planet(P) is 3.6 Earth masses (E), then force F=3.6*g(m*E)/(r*r) = g(m*P)/(r*r) because I can't type r squared...anyway, 3.6 g's
We can briefly function in that environment, I don't know for how long. I suspect a young healthy person could adapt probably with shortened life span and limited functionality.
Assuming an atmosphere composed somewhat like ours, nitrogen-oxygen, the atmospheric density (pressure) would be much different at the surface. Assuming there could be clouds, what would rain be like in such a high density atmosphere?
It's fun to imagine and speculate.
I should have noted above that r is the radius of the planet which we don't know, so if the radius of the planet P were larger than earths radius you can see that the force would decrease by the square of the radius.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSome day perhaps we'll have better telescopes and instrumentation.
Thanks for the explanatiom. I hope, some day perhaps with one better technology, we study this planets.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBy the time this "generational" type vehicle gets there (longer than recorded history), would the occupants we sent still be "human"?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow do you know?
We study our planets with spacecraft without human!perhaps We do there with this spacecraft.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe human life isn t long enough for one human go there!
Maybe one day ours spacecraft are quick!
Nobody now if the news planets have conditions for humans. Maybe are dangerus!
This is my thought!
The major reason for looking for earth like planets is ET's. We're not lookiing for places to homestead. It's way to early to even think about going there (if ever).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow we start monitoring full time for radio signals from specific earth like planets in known Goldie Lock orbits.
Finding E.T.'s would be the most important thing 'Man' will ever do.
Whatsup
Jim89, If these planets are inhabited with intelligent life, we get a chance to see how they make decisions about their planet and if we could learn from that to improve our own. Not just scientifically, but culturally, we can learn about conflict resolution, population growth (or lack, thereof) social interactions, how children are raised - everything! Hopefully, we would be able to do this undetected.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisin one of the podcasts they talked about the website for citizen scientists to see Kepler images for searching for planets, anyone know what it is?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThen we give them some free blankets, it worked with native americans, might give it a shot again.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this