Thursday, March 6, 2014

ScienceDaily: Extrasolar Planets News

ScienceDaily: Extrasolar Planets News


A small step toward discovering habitable Earths

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 01:08 PM PST

For the first time, astronomers have used the same imaging technology found in a digital camera to take a picture of a planet far from our solar system with an Earth-based telescope. The accomplishment is a small step toward the technology astronomers will need in order to characterize planets suitable for harboring life.

'Dimer molecules' aid study of exoplanet pressure, hunt for life

Posted: 04 Mar 2014 12:45 PM PST

Astronomers have developed a new method of gauging the atmospheric pressure of exoplanets, or worlds beyond the solar system, by looking for a certain type of molecule. And if there is life out in space, scientists may one day use this same technique to detect its biosignature -- the telltale chemical signs of its presence -- in the atmosphere of an alien world.

Virtually all red dwarf stars have at least one planet in orbit around them

Posted: 04 Mar 2014 04:14 AM PST

Three new planets classified as habitable-zone super-Earths are amongst eight new planets discovered orbiting nearby red dwarf stars. A new study identifies that virtually all red dwarfs, which make up at least three quarters of the stars in the Universe, have planets orbiting them. The research also suggests that habitable-zone super-Earth planets (where liquid water could exist and making them possible candidates to support life) orbit around at least a quarter of the red dwarfs in the Sun's own neighbourhood.

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