bwfleabanner28a.jpg

? Ab urbe condita MMDCCLXI | Main | First Strike ?

November 13, 2008

Sleeping in light

FomalhautB.jpg

The Hubble Space Telescope captures the first image of a planet outside the solar system. Le Monde has a helpful diagram to point out the dot in question: the size of Jupiter, Fomalhaut b is twenty-five light years from Earth.

"I nearly had a heart attack when I confirmed that Fomalhaut b orbits its parent star," said Paul Kalas, a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. "It's a profound and overwhelming experience to lay eyes on a planet never before seen.

"There is plenty of empty space between Fomalhaut b and the star for other planets to happily reside in stable orbits.

"We'll probably have to wait for the James Webb Space Telescope to give us a clear view of the region closer to the star where a planet could host liquid water on the surface."

The James Webb Space Telescope infrared observatory will be on line by 2013 at the earliest...

Posted by Ghost of a flea at November 13, 2008 06:25 PM

Comments

Sauron has gotten pretty big in his old age. We had better develop some sophisticated space battleships to go out there and give him a hiding.

Posted by: Chris Taylor [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 13, 2008 07:33 PM

That's not a planet. That nearby 'burning mass' is Cthugha.

Posted by: Montieth [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 13, 2008 11:18 PM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in. Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?