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500 exoplanets, 18 years after the first discovery we know 500 of them |
 Nov 23 2010, 01:36 AM
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#1
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 Junior Member  Group: Members Posts: 39 Joined: 19-August 09 From: Dallas Member No.: 4905  |
As of today (November 22nd 2010), NASA's PlanetQuest page counter shows 500 known / confirmed exoplanets.
Who knows how reliable that counter is, but I think it is something worth mentioning. 18 years since first exoplanet has been discovered and we know of 500 of them. That's 27-28 planets (on average) each year ... which is amazing. Now waiting for next Kepler announcements. |
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Nov 23 2010, 02:03 AM
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#2
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1453 Joined: 26-July 08 Member No.: 4270 |
It should be noted that it's difficult to really say 500 planets have been found. Some of the objects contributing to that number are in the hazy area where we aren't sure what separates a planet from a brown dwarf. Furthermore, there are a number of unconfirmed extrasolar planets which may or may not exist.
But that aside, it is quite uplifting to see 500+ on such counters. -------------------- -- Hungry4info (Sirius_Alpha)
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Nov 23 2010, 05:32 PM
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#3
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Member Group: Members Posts: 293 Joined: 29-August 06 From: Columbia, MD Member No.: 1083 |
Jean Schneider posted a "warning" about the 500th detection.
http://tamise.ujf-grenoble.fr/wws/arc/exop...0/msg00001.html That being said, his website (which is usually taken as THE exoplanet counter) now has 504 tallied. |
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Nov 23 2010, 07:39 PM
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#4
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 39 Joined: 19-August 09 From: Dallas Member No.: 4905 |
There is also this article on space.com.
"[...] The milestone [500 exoplanets] was reached Friday (Nov. 19), according to the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia, a database compiled by astrobiologist Jean Schneider of the Paris-Meudon Observatory." |
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Nov 25 2010, 01:45 AM
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#5
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Member Group: Members Posts: 293 Joined: 29-August 06 From: Columbia, MD Member No.: 1083 |
Can bump that number up by 5-7 today with a big haul from the HARPS search. Up to 6 planets (5 for sure) within 1.5AU, all Neptune-sized and one possible Super-Earth! Then the 7th out at 3.5AU being a little smaller than Saturn. That's one jam-packed system!
http://arxiv.org/abs/1011.4994 |
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Nov 25 2010, 02:17 AM
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#6
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 Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8789 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
These jammed low-mass systems sound like very interesting places. I do wonder if moons are fairly rare in them, though. Seems as if all but the closest satellites to their primaries would be (relatively) quickly stripped away via interactions with the other planets in such close proximity.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Nov 25 2010, 09:43 AM
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#7
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1453 Joined: 26-July 08 Member No.: 4270 |
The planets at HD 10180 have been known for a while now. They were made public in an ESO release last August. As typically happens for these press releases, the paper appears on arXiv some time after.
-------------------- -- Hungry4info (Sirius_Alpha)
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