How Scientists Confirmed The Mass Of An Invisible Exoplanet

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

How Scientists Confirmed The Mass Of An Invisible Exoplanet

How Scientists Confirmed The Mass Of An Invisible Exoplanet:

Artist’s conception of Kepler-88. Credit: Center for Astrophysics of the University of Porto

Planets are so very tiny next to stars outside of the solar system, making it really hard to spot exoplanets unless they transit across the face of their star (or if they are very, very big). Often, astronomers can only infer the existence of planets by their effect on the host star or other stars.
That’s especially true of the curious case of Kepler-88 c, which researchers using the Kepler space telescope said was a possible planet due to its effects on the orbit of Kepler-88 b, a planet that goes across the host of its host star. European astronomers just confirmed the Kepler data using the SOPHIE spectrograph at France’s Haute-Provence Observatory.
It’s the first time scientists have successfully used a technique to independently verify a planet’s mass based on what was found from the transit timing variation, or how a planet’s orbit varies from what is expected as it goes across the face of its sun. That means TTV can likely be used as a strong method on its own, advocates say.
(...)
Read the rest of How Scientists Confirmed The Mass Of An Invisible Exoplanet (181 words)

© Elizabeth Howell for Universe Today, 2013. |Permalink |No comment |
Post tags: aix-marseille university, kepler-88, kepler-88 b, kepler-88 c, transit timing variation, university of porto
Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

FASHION WEEK - USA Fashion and Music News
GOOGLE NEWS - Google News Blogger
PALCO MP3 - Download Music Legally Direct From Artist
LAST FM - Download Music Legally Direct From Artist
NATURE ACROSS THE UNIVERSE PICASA WEB - Nature Across The Universe Photo Gallery
DISNEY CHANNEL - Music News
BABY JUSTIN BIEBER - Google Images Google News
LADY GAGA - Google Images Google News
UNIVERSE PICTURES - Google Images Nature Pictures
FLICKR PHOTOS - Billboard Hot 100

No comments:

Post a Comment

NASA Photos Photography

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 with a distinctly civilian (rather than military) orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29, 1958, disestablishing NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency became operational on October 1, 1958.

UFO SIGHTINGS PHOTO PHOTOGRAPHY

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a UFO as "An unidentified flying object; a 'flying saucer'." The first published book to use the word was authored by Donald E. Keyhoe. The acronym "UFO" was coined by Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who headed Project Blue Book, then the USAF's official investigation of UFOs. He wrote, "Obviously the term 'flying saucer' is misleading when applied to objects of every conceivable shape and performance. For this reason the military prefers the more general, if less colorful, name: unidentified flying objects. UFO (pronounced Yoo-foe) for short." Other phrases that were used officially and that predate the UFO acronym include "flying flapjack", "flying disc", "unexplained flying discs", "unidentifiable object", and "flying saucer". The phrase "flying saucer" had gained widespread attention after the summer of 1947. On June 24, a civilian pilot named Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine objects flying in formation near Mount Rainier. Arnold timed the sighting and estimated the speed of discs to be over 1,200 mph (1,931 km/h). At the time, he described the objects' shape as being somewhat disc-like or saucer-like, leading to newspaper accounts of "flying saucers" and "flying discs". In popular usage the term UFO came to be used to refer to claims of alien spacecraft. and because of the public and media ridicule associated with the topic, some investigators prefer to use such terms as unidentified aerial phenomenon (or UAP) or anomalous phenomena, as in the title of the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP).

UFO PHOTO PHOTOGRAPHY

UFO - Unidentified Flying Object An unidentified flying object, or UFO, in its most general definition, is any apparent anomaly in the sky that is not identifiable as a known object or phenomenon. Culturally, UFOs are associated with claims of visitation by extraterrestrial life or government-related conspiracy theories, and have become popular subjects in fiction. While UFOs are often later identified, sometimes identification may not be possible owing to the usually low quality of evidence related to UFO sightings (generally anecdotal evidence and eyewitness accounts). Stories of fantastical celestial apparitions have been told since antiquity, but the term "UFO" (or "UFOB") was officially created in 1953 by the United States Air Force (USAF) to serve as a catch-all for all such reports. In its initial definition, the USAF stated that a "UFOB" was "any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object." Accordingly, the term was initially restricted to that fraction of cases which remained unidentified after investigation, as the USAF was interested in potential national security reasons and/or "technical aspects" (see Air Force Regulation 200-2). During the late 1940s and through the 1950s, UFOs were often referred to popularly as "flying saucers" or "flying discs". The term UFO became more widespread during the 1950s, at first in technical literature, but later in popular use. UFOs garnered considerable interest during the Cold War, an era associated with a heightened concern for national security. Various studies have concluded that the phenomenon does not represent a threat to national security nor does it contain anything worthy of scientific pursuit (e.g., 1951 Flying Saucer Working Party, 1953 CIA Robertson Panel, USAF Project Blue Book, Condon Committee).

Photos of Nature | Nature Photography What is The Universe

Photos of Nature | Nature Photography What is The Universe

Tuesday, December 17, 2013