The new discovery suggests more solar systems may be like our own
NASA discovers fifth planet in 55 Cancri system
By Nic Fleming
The universe contains vast numbers of planetary systems similar to our own, increasing the chances of there being extraterrestrial life, astronomers have announced.
Nasa scientists last night unveiled a newly-discovered planet orbiting a star in a system which now becomes the first known to contain at least five planets.
The layout of the planetary system – known as 55 Cancri – is similar to that of our own solar system, where four small rocky planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, orbit close to the sun, and Jupiter and three other giant planets orbiting much further out.
Astronomers believe giant planets in outer orbits, such as that seen in 55 Cancri, may be essential for the formation of life as their huge gravitational pull may stabilise the orbits of the smaller inner planets, and suck away debris that might otherwise bombard them.
Professor Geoff Marcy, an astronomer at the University of California, in Berkeley, said the discovery meant complex planetary systems like are own are now likely to be far more frequent than previously believed.
He said: “The discovery of this first-ever quintuple planetary system had be jumping out of my socks. We now know that the Sun and its family of planets is not unusual.
“In our Milky Way there are 200 billion stars. Our Milky Way contains billions of planetary systems, many of them as rich as our own solar system, and we strongly suspect they harbour Earth-like planets.”
The star at the centre of the 55 Cancri is believed to be of a similar mass and age as our sun.
It is only 41 light years from Earth in the constellation of Cancer, and is visible with binoculars.
The new planet – 55 Cancri F – is 45 times the mass of Earth, and may be similar to Saturn in its composition and appearance.
It is in the so-called “habitable zone”, a band around stars where the temperature would permit liquid water to pool on solid surfaces – considered a key ingredient for life.
The astronomers believe it is unlikely to be habitable because of its size, but that there may be smaller nearby planets or moons that could provide the ideal conditions for the existence of some form of life.
Debra Fischer, an astronomer at San Francisco State University and the lead author of a paper on the discovery due to appear in a future issue of the Astrophysical Journal, said: “The gas-giant planets in our solar system all have large moons.
“If there is a moon orbiting this new, massive planet, it might have pools of liquid water on a rocky surface.
“Finding five extra-solar planets orbiting a star is only one small step. Earth-like planets are the next destination.”
Approximately 260 planets orbiting stars other than our sun have been found since the first was confirmed in 1995.
Researchers discovered the fifth planet using the Doppler technique, in which a planet’s gravitational tug is detected by the wobble in light coming from its parent star.
Jonathan Lunine, planetary scientist, University of Arizona, Tucson, said: “We are moving into a time when humanity can study planetary systems rather than individual planets around stars.
“If you look at the distribution of planets there is a much larger gap between the larger outer planet and smaller inner ones in 55 Cancri than in our own system.
“Is there a much smaller terrestrial planet in that gap, one that might be habitable? I would bet that gap is not empty.”
In April astronomers announced the discovery of Gliese 581 C, the most Earth-like planet outside our solar system to date, located some 20.5 light years away in the constellation Libra.
1 response so far ↓
dobropet // November 7, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Citing the book “Genesis Revisited: Is Modern Science Catching Up With Ancient Knowledge?,” the Chapter—It Came From Outer Space: When Earth had not yet Formed”
In 1766 J.D. Titius proposed and in 1772 Johann Elert Bode popularized what became known as “Bode’s law,” which showed that planetary distances follow, more or less, the progression 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc., if the formula is manipulated by multiplying by 3, adding 4, and dividing by 10. Using as a measure the astronomical unit (AU), which is the distance of Earth from theSun, the formula indicates that there should be a planet between Mars and Jupiter(the asteroids are found there) and a planet Saturn(Uranus was discovered). The formula shows tolerable deviations up until one reaches Uranus but gets out of whack from Neptune on. Bode’s law, which was arrived at empirically, thus uses Earth as its arithmetic starting point. But according to the Sumerian cosmogony, at the beginning there was Tiamat between Mars and Jupiter, whereas Earth had not yet formed. Dr. Amnon Sitchin has pointed out that if Bode’s law is stripped of its arithmetical devices and only the geomatric progression is retained, the formula works just as well IF EARTH IS OMITTED– thus confirming Sumerian cosmogony.
Some more information on reguards to another planet looming in our Solar System; http://www.crystalinks.com/extrasolarplanets.html
Also citing in the same book, the Chapter–”A Space Base On Mars,”—Writing in “The Greening Of Mars,” James Lovelock and Michael Allaby employed science fiction to describe how microorganisms and “halocarbon gases” would be sent from Earth to Mars in rockets, the former to start the biological chain and the latter to create a shield in the Martian atmosphere. This shield of halocarbon gases, suspended in the atmosphere above the now cold and arid planet, would block the dissipation into space of the warmth Mars recieves from the Sun and its own internal heat and would create an artificially induced “greenhouse” effect. The warming and the thickened atmosphere would release Mar’s frozen waters, enhance plant growth, and thereby increase the planet’s oxygen supply. Each step in this artificially induced evolution would strengthen the process; thus will the bringing of Life to Mars mke it hospitable to Life. [------] the process called “Terra forming”—-should begin with the creation of an artificial shield to protect the planet’s dissipating heat and water vapor by artificially suspending a suitable material in the planet’s atmosphere was made by them in 1984. [-----]in THE 12TH PLANET(1976), it was described how the Anunnaki came to Earth about 450,000 years ago in order to obtain gold—needing the metal to protect life on their planet Nibiru by suspending gold particles as a shield in its dwindling atmosphere, to reverse the loos of heat, air, and water.