Week 4 New Horizons, Pluto, Earth 2.0, Kepler 452b
Orphaned planet and twin Earths that 'could share life' revealed
December 4, 2015
(CNN)From a world 11 times more massive than Jupiter to a pair of
Earth-like planets that may house life, scientists have revealed a host of
fascinating new findings about our galactic neighbors.
Take HD-106906b, or "fat Jupiter" as
some observers havetermed it.
A planet far larger than our incredibly massive
neighbor which has become partially exiled from
its solar system, ending up nearly 16 times farther away from its
host star than Pluto is from the sun.
world, before getting
booted out to the very edges of the system by a dramatic event in the recent
galactic past.
"We think the whole [fat Jupiter] system
has recently been disturbed by some violent gravitational interaction, though
we're not sure exactly what happened," said Paul Kalas, an adjunct
professor of astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley.
"Something recently happened that kicked
it out."
A similar event may have occurred in the
distant history of our own solar system.
Scientists believe that we once shared our part
of the Milky Way with a ninth planet (or tenth, if we're counting Pluto) before
Jupiter's huge gravitational pull sent the
other planet spinning out into
the wastes of intergalactic space.
Extreme solar systems
Kalas was speaking at a press event for the Extreme Solar Systems
(ExSS) conference taking place this week in Waikoloa Beach, Hawaii.
The conference, the third of its type since
2007, brings together 350 of the world's leading space scientists to discuss
"every aspect of exoplanet research", according to American
Astronomical Society Director of Communications Rick Feinberg.
Feinberg pointed out that the conference was
being held at special time, the 20th anniversary of the discovery of 51 Pegasi
b, the first planet outside our solar system found orbiting a sun-like star.
"51-Pegasi b is now part of history,"
Feinberg said.
Though the gassy, tidally-locked and incredibly
hot 51-Pegasi b doesn't present much hope for life outside our solar system,
other findings presented at the conference are may well do.
Twinned planets sharing life
While Earth is the only planet in our neighborhood that lies in the
"Goldilocks zone" -- the area close enough to our star to get
enough warmth but not so close it's roasted -- other solar systems may
have two or more in the habitable area.
This could actually be an advantage when it
comes to developing life, according to the University of Nevada's Jason Steffen
and Gongjie Li of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
"You're no worse off by having a
neighboring planet that's also in the habitable zone," Steffen said at
ExSS.
In fact, there may be
significant upsides. Steffen and
Li found that two
inhabitable planets could easily share microbes and other material of life,
assisting in the development and evolution of organisms on both worlds.
"Life in a multi-habitable system may have
a higher probability of surviving," said Steffen.
Steffen and Li's theory builds on the concept
of panspermia, that our own planet may have been "seeded" with life
from meteorites, asteroids and other ejecta from far-away worlds.
Last month, scientists announced the discovery of GJ-1132b,
"arguably the most important planet ever found outside the solar
system", which may support basic forms of life such as bacteria.
Structure of the Lead:
WHO- Orphaned planet and twin Earths
WHEN- December 4, 2015
WHAT- the first planet outside our solar
system found orbiting a sun-like star
WHY- solve the plight of the Earth
WHERE- Outer space
HOW-not given
Keywords:
1.
exile:流放
2.
gravitational:重力的
3.
interaction;互相影響
4.
adjunct:助手；副手
5.
astronomy:天文學
6.
spin:旋轉；自轉
7.
microbes: 微生物
8.
inhabitable:可居住
Scientists have discovered a planet like Earth.They announced the discovery of GJ-1132b. And it arguably the most important planet ever found outside the solar system. Maybe one day we could leave the Earth to live in other planets.But I think it will take a lot of money.
回覆刪除I always think there must be a place where has life, and someday people can live there. I was so excited to hear the news. though the scientists haven't found any life on the planet, the discovery was a big improvement.
回覆刪除Global warming and greenhouse effect made our Earth become more worse.Maybe one hundred year later,we will have no place to live.Because the Earth will disappear.And this news gave people a new hope.But if we really can live on it ,one thing we should worry is how to reach it for all people around the world.
回覆刪除