PBS Discussions Discussion Forums on pbs.org    Search   Register   Profile   Ignore List   Log in  Hunt for Alien Earths      PBS Discussions Forum Index -> NOVA ScienceNOW Stories 2009 View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message PBSBoardAuntie Administrator Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 149 Location: Arlington, VA  Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:35 am    Post subject: Hunt for Alien Earths Astronomers may be on the brink of finding Earth-like planets beyond our solar system. Find out more about this subject here. _________________ PBS Discussions Administrator pbs.org Last edited by NOVAmoderator2 on Thu Jun 25, 2009 1:05 pm; edited 2 times in total Back to top yoduh Joined: 07 Jul 2009 Posts: 1  Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Hunt for Alien Earths the transit technique requires an edge-on view of the supposed orbit, this isnt required for the wobble technique. 1- do they / can they use doppler shift (of the hydrogen lines presumably) in addition to the side-to-side shifting (or circular wobble, depending upon view) 2- do the systems found by wobble have an average alignment ? Does it suggest better than random chance of edge-on as needed for transit ? 3- are stars' spins observable ? Sol's is, but thats a lot easier. 4- does the orbital axis of the system correlate with the spin axis of the star at the center ? 5- do axes of rotation across the galaxy correlate ? 6- how much does all this say about the disc accretion hypothesis 7- it seems like more than coincidence that all our planets are in same plane. 8- is the fact that pluto isnt (17' off?) part of the planetoid argument ? 9- mercury has no rotation, or its same as orbit period, this is due to tidal friction ?? not much tide on that rock. 10- is our 23' off-axis rotation due to the collision with the moon ? ISTM that this is the big difference between our planet and all the other possible earths out there. Back to top jpresigjr Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 1  Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 10:29 pm    Post subject: Re: Hunt for Alien Earths I certainly don't have the in depth astronomical knowledge to make detailed comments on the techniques shown but I have to say that I appreciated the comments made by Neil at the end of the episode were very welcome! To hear over and over that astronomers are looking for life on "Earth-like" twins with just the right combination of circumstances that equal those here I find to be extraordinarily closed minded. There isn't anything that garuntees what the conditions for life are elsewhere in the universe. We know what it takes on Earth but when we consider the variety of life on our own planet I think we would be mistaken to ignore the fact that life could exist under different circumstances than our own. Or even that life requires water could easily be our greatest miscalculation. There could very well be a planet on which life is nitrogen based rather than carbon and the primary building block is amonia rather than water. Thank you Neil for reminding people that we aren't necessarily the only perfect situation for life. It is out there, we just need to find it. Back to top CL Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 9188  Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 10:55 pm    Post subject: Re: Hunt for Alien Earths How is finding planets around red dwarf stars finding an alien Earth? To find an alien Earth, you need to find planets around a Sol like sun. _________________ HYPERCRITES WEST -- a.webdenizen@gmail.com - http://twitter.com/ClaraListenspre Back to top fredly Joined: 12 Apr 2008 Posts: 927  Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:23 am    Post subject: Re: Hunt for Alien Earths I'm more inclined to conider the Multiverse idea where some life forms may be able to navagate beteen levels. It seems some UFO reports show "lights" and "objects" fading in and out of our space rather than being seen by telescopes traveling toward or away from us as from oher planets. I think StarTrek is out. But, that don't mean there is absolutely no other life on some other planet in our particular reality. Back to top ErinS93 Joined: 08 Aug 2009 Posts: 1 Location: New York, United States  Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:13 pm    Post subject: Re: Hunt for Alien Earths jpresigjr wrote: I certainly don't have the in depth astronomical knowledge to make detailed comments on the techniques shown but I have to say that I appreciated the comments made by Neil at the end of the episode were very welcome! To hear over and over that astronomers are looking for life on "Earth-like" twins with just the right combination of circumstances that equal those here I find to be extraordinarily closed minded. There isn't anything that garuntees what the conditions for life are elsewhere in the universe. We know what it takes on Earth but when we consider the variety of life on our own planet I think we would be mistaken to ignore the fact that life could exist under different circumstances than our own. Or even that life requires water could easily be our greatest miscalculation. There could very well be a planet on which life is nitrogen based rather than carbon and the primary building block is amonia rather than water. Thank you Neil for reminding people that we aren't necessarily the only perfect situation for life. It is out there, we just need to find it. I agree that it seems rather close-minded that our scientists imagine there's another earth-like planet with capabilities to support human life. Isn't it plausible that there could be new elements no one has ever discovered, on these new planets that may be discovered? Thus creating new conditions for new evolutions? Not only that, but it's got to be near impossible for the earth's tilt, and position to be obtained twice, rotating around a star the same density as the sun. It's got to be a far cry from a usual occurence. It seems like our scientists, on Earth, should be searching for any worlds, planets that show any gravitational push or pull, not just earth-like ones, because then it may be able to take samples of light, or the atmosphere of those new planets. Isn't it more plausible to find more planets rather than earth-like planets? _________________ It's not like I'm a trained specialist or anything. I'm just a curious kid : ) Back to top Tamara Beryl Latham Joined: 21 Aug 2004 Posts: 1450  Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:28 pm    Post subject: Re: Hunt for Alien Earths ErinS93 wrote: Quote: It seems like our scientists, on Earth, should be searching for any worlds, planets that show any gravitational push or pull, not just earth-like ones, because then it may be able to take samples of light, or the atmosphere of those new planets. Isn't it more plausible to find more planets rather than earth-like planets? Question ***Scientists are looking for a parallel universe, one that already has an earth and a sun, and planets...just like ours. A parallel universe is said to be related to ours, branch off from ours and may contain extinct animals or humans. 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