European Observatory to Make 'Major' Alien Planet Announcement Monday

[Billy]

What have they found. This breaking story used Harps latest astro equipment and NOT HAARP as most know who alter weather..

Billyji


http://www.space.com/12908-alien-planet-announcement-european-southern-observatory.html


A European observatory will announce what it describes as "major" alien planet findings on Monday (Sept. 12).

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) Monday to "report significant new results in the field of exoplanets," ESO officials said in a media alert.

The results were obtained with the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher instrument, better known as HARPS, officials said. HARPS is a spectrograph on ESO's 11.8-foot (3.6-meter) telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile.

[WhiteFeather]

Very Interesting Find. Could this be another step or a stepping stone towards disclosure. Seems like every one is on the bandwagon these days, with respect to Disclosure.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=gsis%2Ci18n%3Dtrue&cp=69&gs_id=3&xhr=t&q=European+Observatory+to+Make+'Major'+Alien+Planet+Announcement+Monday&pf=p&sclient=psy&site=&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=European+Observatory+to+Make+'Major'+Alien+Planet+Announcement+Monday&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=ad22561d38e22c32&biw=1366&bih=667

[pickle]

Thanks Billyji, looking forward to tomorrow to find out what it is.... especially as the observatory is located in the Southern Hemisphere ;-)

Peace,

Pickle

[Midnight Rambler]

I remember some time ago a NASA announcement about extraterrestrial life. What a disappointment was that!

I hope some great news is to be shared, but I am holding back my enthusiasm a bit.

Thanks for the heads up and I will be looking out for it tomorrow. :)

[jagman]

very exciting !!! Makes you feel like a little kid the night before Christmas ( except I always peeked at my gifts lol )

[Billy]

I remember some time ago a NASA announcement about extraterrestrial life. What a disappointment was that!

I hope some great news is to be shared, but I am holding back my enthusiasm a bit.

Thanks for the heads up and I will be looking out for it tomorrow. :)

Yea they may have found more alien algae on a rock, but a life form is life. Hopefully something more exciting for tomorrows Monday news.

[Jennsky]

I expect another disappointment, a teaser...... maybe there is life out there somewhere. These people should be ashamed of themselves for not speaking openly and truthfully.

[Billy]

So todays breaking news was the discovery of a type of 'Super-Earth,' 50 other Newfound Alien Planets, That Could Potentially Support Life
Video Link

http://www.space.com/12917-16-super-earth-discovered.html

Some great artist impressions.

http://www.space.com/12915-habitable-alien-planet-hd-85512b-super-earth.html

More than 50 new alien planets — including one so-called super-Earth that could potentially support life — have been discovered by an exoplanet-hunting telescope from the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

The newfound haul of alien planets includes 16 super-Earths, which are potentially rocky worlds that are more massive than our planet. One in particular - called HD 85512 b - has captured astronomers' attention because it orbits at the edge of its star's habitable zone, suggesting conditions could be ripe to support life.

The exoplanet findings came from observations from the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher instrument, or HARPS. The HARPS spectrograph is part of ESO's 11.8-foot (3.6-meter) telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

“The harvest of discoveries from HARPS has exceeded all expectations and includes an exceptionally rich population of super-Earths and Neptune-type planets hosted by stars very similar to our sun," HARPS team leader Michel Mayor of the University of Geneva in Switzerland said in a statement. "And even better — the new results show that the pace of discovery is accelerating." [Illustration and video of alien planet HD 85512 b]

The potentially habitable super-Earth, officially called HD 85512 b, is estimated to be only 3.6 times more massive than Earth, and its parent star is located about 35 light-years away, making it relatively nearby. HD 85512 b was found to orbit at the edge of its star's habitable zone, which is a narrow region in which the distance is just right that liquid water could exist given the right conditions. [Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets]

"This is the lowest-mass confirmed planet discovered by the radial velocity method that potentially lies in the habitable zone of its star, and the second low-mass planet discovered by HARPS inside the habitable zone,” said exoplanet habitability expert Lisa Kaltenegger, of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany and Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Boston.

Further analysis of HD 85512 b and the other newfound exoplanets will be able to determine more about the potential existence of water on the surface. [Infographic: How Planets in Alien Solar Systems Stack Up]

"I think we're in for an incredibly exciting time," Kaltenegger told reporters in a briefing today (Sept. 12). "We're not just going out there to discover new continents — we're actually going out there to discover brand new worlds."

The HARPS spectrograph is designed to detect tiny radial velocity signals induced by planets as small as Earth if they orbit close to their star. [Related: How do Astronomers Find Alien Planets?]

Astronomers used HARPS to observe 376 sunlike stars. By studying the properties of all the alien planets detected by HARPS so far, researchers found that approximately 40 percent of stars similar to the sun is host to at least one planet that is less massive than the gas giant Saturn.

In other words, approximately 40 percent of sunlike stars have at least one low-mass planet orbiting around it. On the other hand, the majority of alien planets with a mass similar to Neptune appear to be in systems with multiple planets, researchers said.

Astronomers have previously discovered 564 confirmed alien planets, with roughly 1,200 additional candidate worlds under investigation based on data from the Kepler space observatory, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

[Orion.V]

This is nice information and a step closer to the truth, but this game is being played for a while now. This is not the first time for people to hear about new planets that have been discovered that can probably support life.I really look forward for a new much more exciting information soon. People need to know and this problem grows bigger every day. I wonder for how long they will be able to keep secrets because it ain't gonna last forever.....

[ghostrider]

super earth ? ehumm Another Earth. sounds like a movie, Hmmmmmm?

[Jake]

The finding of life-supporting planets was inevitable. In fact, it is just the beginning. We live in a universe that is Teaming with life. That is a 100% probability!! Another incredible thing to take out of this is that the information was allowed to be released to the public. Times are changing. People ARE waking up. I am excited...

[nearing]

I thought we already knew this. I am sure that I heard the 'officials' confirm that there are many other earth-like planets in the galaxy that could support life a year or even longer ago.

[WyoSeeker]

Ho hum. They COULD announce that we have operational power stations on the moon and mars...

[MorningSong]

I just happened on this article on a CNN BLog "Light Years":


16 'super-Earths' found outside solar system

It's not like aliens put up a welcome banner or anything, but scientists now have newly identified at least one planet that could potentially sustain life.

The European Southern Observatory has just announced the discovery of more than 50 new exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), including 16 super-Earths (planets whose mass is between one and 10 times that of our own planet).

One of these planets in particular could theoretically be home to life if conditions are right. It's called HD 85512 b, and scientists say it's about 3.6 times the mass of the Earth. This planet is about 35 light years from Earth. Its location with respect to its star suggests that this planet could have liquid water under certain circumstances.

Don't get too excited, though; there's a lot more work to be done to explore whether this planet is truly fit for life, in addition to whether there are alien life forms there.

The discovery comes from High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS. HARPS is located at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, and is part of a telescope that's nearly 12 feet long.

Here's how it works, according to ESO: When a planet orbits a star, the star move toward and away from the person who's stargazing on Earth in a regular fashion. That's called a change in radial velocity. Because of the Doppler effect, changes in radial velocity make the star's light spectrum move toward longer wavelengths when it's moving away, and toward shorter wavelengths as it gets closer. HARPS can detect this shift in the spectrum, and infer that there is a planet present.

So far, scientists have confirmed the existence of 564 planets outside of our solar system, according to NASA's PlanetQuest website, not counting this latest batch of more than 50. Beyond that, NASA's Kepler mission has found more than 1,200 exoplanet candidates.

"In the coming 10 to 20 years we should have the first list of potentially habitable planets in the Sun's neighbourhood. Making such a list is essential before future experiments can search for possible spectroscopic signatures of life in the exoplanet atmospheres," said Michel Mayor, who led the HARPS team, in a statement.

http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/13/16-super-earths-found-outside-solar-system/?hpt=hp_c2

[Nyce555]

I saw the article on this Monday. It said something like they found 16 "Super Earths". Which I thought was kind of funny to use the term Super Earth. Lol!