Friday, September 6, 2013

Wondering about exoplanets.

I wonder about almost anything but our universe is near the top of my list if not at the top.  There are so many unimaginable things going on out there.  Today, I am going to touch on exoplanets.  The definition of an exoplnet is one that is not in our solar system.  And guess what, there are a lot of them!!  So far, astronomers have found nearly 1,000 of them.  It seems that most stars out there have some kind of stuff around them.  It could be just dust that is not thick enough to coalesce or hasn't had the time needed to do so.  It is rare in deed to find a star without something orbiting around it.

Want to see some exoplanets?  If any are visible they would be very small dots and the glare of their sun would make it as hard to see as "a firefly next to a search light".  Most have been detected from the wobble they give to their parent star as they orbit it.  So, the next best thing is artists renditions of what the planet would look like.  So here are a couple of examples.  This first one is of Kepler 35 which is a binary star system with planets.


  Yes, there are systems that have multiple stars and in some, the planet or planets orbit around both stars and in some rare cases the planet may orbit around just one of them.

But the most common are systems similar to our own.  Some have multiple planets and some seem to have only one.  The picture below is another artist's rendition of what a typical exoplanet system would look like.


Out of millions and billions and. . .  a lot of star systems out there, there has to be some planets just like earth.  Astronomers have found a lot of possible places where life as we know it could exist, but the huge question is, "does it?".  I hope I have given you all something to wonder about today.  It is Friday, you know, so have a great TGIF day, you hear?

12 comments:

  1. I'm sure life exists out there, even life "as we know it". I hope we never find it or come in contact with it in my lifetime though.

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    1. The odds are in the favor of life of some kind elswhere in the universe. The great distances make contact almost impossible. Would take many lifetimes to answer a call and get word back.

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  2. Have they spotted any exopeople, yet? Other than the ones inside the Capital beltway?
    Our newspaper has a Quote of the day. Wednesday it was, "I am one of the people who love the why of things"- Catherine the Great, Russian czarina (1729-1796), sounds like your kind of people, D.D., exo or otherwise.

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    1. Anyone who wonders is my type of people. No, they haven't spotted any exopeople, just aliens of the illegal type.

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  3. I'll admit it.... I get more excited over fireflies than the galaxies... unless I see a shooting star... now... THAT'S exciting! Now I'm wondering if this is so because I'm seldom outside after dark... bedtime comes early to this old body ;-)

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    1. Wist until the winter time. Night comes earlier then and you don't have to stay up as late.

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  4. I think fairies live on stars ... they flit about spreading stardust.

    With the infinity of space ... I like to think we're not alone. I loved Close Encounters of the Third Kind as well as ET. I've met people who truly have to be from another planet ~ If I can get close enough, I'll check behind their ears. Found some amazing stuff back there.

    I love looking at the stars and moon and sun and clouds. fascinating ...

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    1. You just may be right about the fairies spreading stardust. I, too, love looking at the night sky. I am going to have to get my big telescope soon.

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  5. If life was ever to be found out there, we need to steer well clear. With all the wars and fighting that's going on right now, we don't need another planet to wage war with. Let's just fix this earth we have first.
    I just can't get my head around how many stars/planets there are, out there. Amazing.

    Have a lovely weekend Dizzy-Dick.

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    1. The universe is incomprehensible. There are so many unexplained mysteries out there and because of the enormous distances, we can only guess the answers.

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  6. Howdy DD,
    With your 'wandering/wondering mind, just hope it doesn't wander toooo far away and forget how to get back to Hooston !!! Out here on the RunningStar Ranch, with our dark nights we have LOTS OF STARS and some swooshin' ones too, also !!! We have a 'patio', used to be a horse-wash that we sit on and enjoy the universe, God has given us to take care of , and we are making such a mess of..
    I too hope we never find or rather 'they' never find us; 'they' may decide to 'clean' up the 'mess' we've made and KA-BOOM !!!!!!!!!!!!

    Hope y'all see lots of stars and have a WONDERFUL HAPPY DAY !!!!!!!!!!

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    1. I need to bring my big watger heater size telescope (16" dia. mirror) out your way and take a look at the universe through clear skys. It rarely gets real clear here.

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